Gregor Robertson has been speaking on the latest edition of The Times’ The Game Football Podcast, and he has been talking about West Ham United.
One of the topics that Robertson spent a bit of time on was the club’s decision to sell Grady Diangana to West Bromwich Albion.
The 22-year-old was on loan with the Baggies last season and was expected to be part of David Moyes’ plans this season only to be sold to West Brom.
It seems as if Robertson believes that West Ham have shot themselves in the foot with this whole transfer deal.
He said: “It just seems like another massive own goal that was quite easily avoidable.
“The players were really fond of him, really impressed with him in pre-season and everyone was very impressed with him at West Brom last year; I saw him a few times and he’s a player with huge potential.
“I think it just reflects the toxic atmosphere at West Ham.”
Do you think the Diangana money will be reinvested?
Yes, it has to be
No, they will keep it
TIF Thoughts…
Mark Noble expressed his anger after it was announced that Diangana had signed for the Baggies, and many fans did not hold back either.
The club confirmed that they had sold the winger ‘reluctantly‘ and that the £18m transfer fee would be reinvested back into the squad.
As of yet, the Hammers have only made Tomas Soucek’s loan deal permanent and have not signed anyone else with their Premier League campaign set to get underway on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see if they spend the Diangana fee before the end of the transfer window.
Diangana has made 17 appearances in the Premier League, but he impressed for the Baggies in the Championship last season with 15 goal contributions, and the Hammers might now have to watch him thrive at the Hawthorns.
We agree with Robertson that West Ham could have avoided this situation and kept Diangana, but they will now have to deal with the possible consequences of letting him go.