OPINION
Midfielder Domingos Quina was handed his first Premier League start on Monday night for Watford and West Ham will be kicking themselves for letting such a talent go.
The 19-year-old came into the starting XI at the expense of Nathaniel Chalobah, who himself was taking the place of star player Etienne Capoue.
However, the young ace’s display will have West Ham kicking themselves with regret, as he turned out to be a really positive influence on the Hornets in their 2-2 draw with Everton on Monday.
Quina was no doubt offloaded to the Hammers’ league rivals due to the fact that he was unlikely to get much game time under his belt due to the flurry of signings made in the summer.
Since then, those signings – Jack Wilshere, Carlos Sanchez and Andriy Yarmolenko – have been sidelined with injury, meaning Manuel Pellegrini has found himself with less options in this area than he is used to.
After Quina’s assured display, he will definitely be asking himself why he let such a gem slip from his grasp.
The post-match comments from Watford boss Javi Garcia pretty much summed up how much regret West Ham will be feeling now – and they will leave lot of fans seething.
“It’s not easy to play your first game his debut and he put in a very good performance – an amazing performance,” Garcia said, as quoted by Football London.
“Everybody knows that he’s a very good young player but I think he has a great present and an amazing future as well. He’s one player of this squad and I know he’s always ready to help the team like he did today.”
Perhaps West Ham let Quina go too soon, or they failed to recognise the potential that was avidly spotted by the Hornets.
Either way, Quina is definitely the one who got away – much to West Ham’s frustration.