West Brom were laughing as West Ham sanctioned controversial deal - Mark Noble was fuming | OneFootball

Grady Diangana's switch to West Brom on a permanent basis generated plenty of talk

It's been a handful of years since West Bromwich Albion sampled the glitz and glamour that comes with being a Premier League side, with supporters at The Hawthorns hoping those days can return soon.

Between 2010 and 2018, Albion had firmly cemented themselves as a top-flight side after several seasons of being a stereotypical 'yo-yo' club which was too good for the Championship but distinctly lacked the quality required to compete with the very best English football has to offer.

After suffering relegation back to the EFL in the spring of 2018 - despite Darren Moore's best efforts of mounting the most miraculous of escapes - West Brom were in and around the promotion conversation for the majority of the following season, before agonisingly falling short at the play-off semi-final stage to local rivals Aston Villa on penalties.

However, with the swift appointment of Croatian boss, Slaven Bilic, just weeks later, then-technical director Luke Dowling highlighted his and the club's immediate ambitions of returning to the top flight as soon as possible.

That would just about be achieved in his first season, and afterward, Albion were able to land a significant coup which generated plenty of headlines due to the anger of his ex-West Ham United captain, Mark Noble.

It was hardly a surprise that Bilic looked to utilise his connections to the East London side, and that was showcased when Grady Diangana was initially signed on loan in August 2019.

Immediately, the former England youth international and Congolese winger made an impression with a brace at Luton Town on his debut, before playing an integral role in the Baggies' sustained promotion bid throughout the year.

So much of Albion's attacking threat came through him, Matheus Pereira and Matt Phillips, with five of his eight goals coming before sustaining an unfortunate hamstring injury.

Fortunately, in Bilic's case, Diangana came back as lively as ever, ending the season with eight goals and seven assists in 30 appearances, with his final goals and assists coming in the promotion-clinching draw with QPR at The Hawthorns in July 2020 due to 'Project Restart'.

Having previously made 21 appearances for his parent club, it was believed that Diangana would have an extremely bright future at the London Stadium after benefitting, like so many current stars, with a campaign of regular football in the EFL.

Instead, Albion pulled off a £18m agreement on a five-year contract, much to the bemusement and anger of Noble, who took to social media by stating: "As captain of this football club I'm gutted, angry and sad that Grady has left, great kid with a great future."

Grady Diangana couldn't quite live up to £18m price-tag after permanent West Brom move

As much as it gave Albion supporters plenty of pleasure to see a rival captain so angry about the sale of such a highly-promising talent, the truth of the matter is that, unfortunately, Diangana couldn't justify such verdicts or the aforementioned price-tag on a consistent basis in the five years which followed.

The winger made just 20 top-flight appearances for the club, with his solitary goal in 2020/21 coming against Everton in just the second game of the season, before the next two seasons would be blighted by hamstring injuries under Valerien Ismael, Steve Bruce and Carlos Corberan.

Diangana's best season in terms of output during his permanent spell came in the 2023/24 campaign as the B71 side mounted a play-off bid under Corberan but were defeated rather convincingly by Southampton in the semi-finals, with the wide man scoring seven times and posting a further eight assists in the regular season.

With his contract coming to its end in June 2025, the majority of his final season at The Hawthorns was overshadowed by transfer speculation and a calf injury, although one of his best-ever performances in the blue and white stripes came in Tony Mowbray's homecoming, in which he netted twice and posted as many assists in a 5-1 rout over Portsmouth.

Now 27, the Lubumbashi-born man now features