Grady Diangana has just signed a new contract keeping him at West Ham until 2025, but what is it exactly that makes the youngster so special? Writer Jamie Griffith (@JGriffithJourno) takes a look.
Twenty years ago, just before the turn of the millennium, West Ham seemed to be the endless conveyor belt of promising English youngsters; their famed ‘Academy of Football’ was in full flow. Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe were all unearthed around this time and all five went on to achieve success at club level and obtain a plethora of England caps.
However, following the quintuplet’s departures, the academy seemed to stagnate, with Mark Noble and James Tomkins the only graduates to play regular Premier League football in this time; plus, there is the added bonus that many of these appearances were for West Ham. But other than this pair of Cockney chums, no breakthrough talent has made a real impact on the football scene. Freddie Sears is caught in the abyss of Championship obscurity, Zavon Hines spiralled down into the lower divisions faster than Portsmouth and Reece Oxford is not looking like the future West Ham captain many thought he would become. ‘The Academy of Football’ had become a dated myth – well, until this season, that is.
‘It’s only Macclesfield’ said numerous rival fans as West Ham thrashed the League 2 side 8-0 in the Carabao Cup back in September, but one man certainly did not mind that it was ‘only Macclesfield’. That young man was Grady Diangana, who was granted his first West Ham appearance in the match by Manuel Pellegrini (who was said to have been mightily impressed with the youngster’s ability and attitude in training.) It is likely that Grady would not have even featured had another talent, Nathan Holland, avoided injury as the latter was being favoured by Pellegrini during pre-season. However, Diangana got the nod and has not looked back since. A brace against Macclesfield on his debut was enough to earn him a Premier League debut 3 days later in a 3-1 win against Manchester United, although this was just a cameo.
An injury to Andriy Yarmolenko presented Diangana with a route into the first team and he took it. Against Burnley the winger was devastating, grabbing an assist by showing great maturity and picking the perfect pass during a counter attack. Alongside this fabulous display of intelligence came a number of dribbles, including one which should have won a penalty had the referee and his assistants not missed the blatant foul following Grady displaying excellent trickery down his favoured right-wing. The display was scintillating, and Diangana drew praise from both sets of fans and even Burnley boss Sean Dyche.
Diangana’s style of play is very obvious. He loves to run at defenders and get fans of their seat, two aspects of football synonymous with the ‘West Ham Way’. Naturally left-footed, he looks to cut inside regularly from his preferred right-flank which is not uncommon in the modern game. This also suits Grady more than playing down the left due to having played in a number 10 role for the development sides, so to venture inside is to be expected. With the excellent form of Robert Snodgrass leading to the Scot being first choice on the right, at current Dianagna has been demoted to a place on the bench, but his impressive dribbling talent offers something completely different to Robert’s energy and crossing ability; West Ham finally have options!
Grady Diangana is creating 1.7 chances per 90 minutes and 3.5 take-ons which is better than both Ryan Sessegnon and former Hammers’ starlet Domingos Quina in the two statistics. But he is still raw. His crossing from open play and set pieces has proved ineffective meanwhile his finishing is far from clinical. Unfortunately for Grady he has broken through at a time when competition for places in the England squad is plentiful. Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson are levels ahead of him currently, despite both talents being younger, so do not be surprised to see Diangana opt to represent his birth country DR Congo in the near future, even if his England U20 debut was described as ‘dazzling’. Diangana could definitely play International level football, having excelled in the most demanding league in the world before the age of 21.
For West Ham, to tie Diangana down to a 6-year deal is brilliant; literally and symbolically. On a literal note, Diangana is a brilliant player who is very quick, agile and has the mindset that he can beat any defender in a one-on-one. He is far from the complete package right now, but a player I would liken him to is Wilfried Zaha. Zaha is also a winger with flair that has been branded with the ’no end product’ tag but only really came to full prominence last season at the age of 25 – so give Diangana time. He looks like a brilliant talent capable of magic moments, and he is a typical West Ham player. If used correctly, he could be a very dangerous player for West Ham in years to come.
However, it is symbolically where the real coup has occurred. To have two academy players sign long-term deals in such quick succession is a real sign of progression from the club, especially considering the graduates in question have shown consistent first-team ability. Declan Rice is going straight to the top and Diangana may not fall too far behind him. After a drought of success stories, the academy is well and truly excelling once again. With young Joe Powell, the fore mentioned Nathan Holland and the ever-exciting Xande Silva all coming through too it is a very exciting time to be a West Ham fan. Pellegrini has shown his trust in youth already in his short tenure so the future is bright.
Is West Ham’s next golden generation of youngsters already coming through? There is a good chance it might just be.
