West Brom created West Ham fury with transfer swoop - it might be viewed differently now | OneFootball

Albion’s permanent signing of Grady Diangana ruffled a few feathers in the English capital.

After gaining promotion back to the Premier League under Slaven Bilic in 2020, West Brom secured the permanent signing of loanee Grady Diangana from West Ham.

The Congolese international had a sensational debut season in the Championship, being let off the leash and giving second-tier defenders nightmares with his pace and trickery down the left-hand side.

Unpredictable and devastating in the final third to either score or create goals, Diangana recorded eight goals and seven assists from 30 appearances, emerging as a livewire and developing an effective relationship with playmaker Matheus Pereira.

After the Baggies sealed their place back in the big time on the final day against QPR, Diangana opted to become an Albion player permanently, linking back up at The Hawthorns from boyhood club West Ham for a reported fee of £18 million.

With many anticipating he could make the step-up to the top-flight after such a successful opening season, the transfer did ruffle some feathers in the capital, but after Diangana’s unsuccessful spell at the club from that point, there wouldn’t be as much outcry today.

West Brom, Grady Diangana transfer frustrated Mark Noble

After West Brom secured a permanent move for Grady Diangana on a five-year deal, West Ham legend Mark Noble took aim at the Hammers for selling such a promising asset, venting his frustration at the hierarchy.

Back in 2020, Noble tweeted: "As captain of this football club I'm gutted, angry and sad that Grady has left, great kid with a great future.”

At the time, Noble’s post was liked by teammates Declan Rice and Arthur Masuaku, while many Hammers fans expressed dissatisfaction with club owners David Sullivan and David Gold.

While West Brom thought they’d got the better half of the deal, it ultimately never turned out that way, with Diangana struggling with inconsistency and having multiple injury issues that have ended up disrupting his progress in a blue and white shirt.

Grady Diangana’s struggles at West Brom

Despite being a regular performer in the Baggies team, Grady Diangana only recorded seven strikes over three seasons after he made a permanent switch, with the former England youth international cutting a largely frustrating figure for the Albion faithful.

Carlos Corberan did appear to get Diangana back to similar heights from the Bilic era, registering an impressive seven goals and eight assists in the 2023/24 campaign, as Albion claimed a play-off place and were eventually edged out by Southampton.

But under a combination this term under Corberan and now Tony Mowbray, Diangana has failed to impress on a regular basis, and could be set to exit The Hawthorns on a free transfer as his contract is due to run down at the end of the term.

Many couldn’t have predicted the slump Diangana would enter after becoming a Baggie permanently, and viewing it now, West Ham made the right decision to accept such a sizeable fee and reinvest it into their playing squad.

In hindsight, Albion shouldn’t have spent such a significant amount of their budget on an unproven player at Premier League level, but the outcry of negativity from people connected with West Ham at the time showed that it was probably worth the gamble.