The 2020 summer transfer window saw West Ham United make four permanent signings, along with two loan deals to bring six new players to the club. This also saw the Hammers let go of seven players on permanent deals, including the sale of Sebastian Haller for just £20m, despite signing him for £45m in 2019.
The biggest signing that summer was the addition of Said Benrahma from Brentford, who joined for a fee of around £20m plus add-ons. The Algerian made 155 appearances in his time at the club, scoring 24 goals, providing 20 assists, and totalling 8,720 minutes played.
Player
Fee (£)
Said Benrahma
£19.3m
Tomas Soucek
£13.5m
Vladamir Coufal
£5m
Jesse Lingard
£3.6m
Frederik Alves
£1.3m
Craig Dawson
£922k
The signings of Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson were loan deals, with both players making big statements in their time at the club, Lingard making 16 Premier League appearances for the Hammers, scoring nine times and providing four assists, whilst Dawson made 22 Premier League appearances, scoring three times, and contributing to seven clean sheets, prior to signing permanently.
But it was actually one of the departures that same season that upset club legend Mark Noble, who expressed his anger at one sale in particular.
West Ham's own Cazorla
West Ham sold Grady Diangana to West Brom in 2020, for a fee of around £18m. And Noble was quick to let his thoughts on this be known, writing “as captain of this football club, I’m gutted, angry and sad that Grady has left, great kid with a great future”.
Just two years earlier (2018), Manuel Pellegrini stated Diangana reminded him of a young Santi Cazorla, saying he had the potential to emulate the Arsenal legend:
“I have worked with so many young players, but maybe when I arrived at Villarreal I was very impressed with Santi Cazorla,” Pellegrini said.
“He was 19-years-old and was not in the first squad, he was with the Under-21s and in that moment he maybe wasn’t considered a top player. But when I saw him play I think that he has, maybe not exactly the same as Diangana but, technical player with a good view of the pitch and with a good solution when they receive the ball”.
As it proved, the winger made just 21 appearances for the West Ham first team, scoring two goals and providing one assist.
Since joining West Brom, Diangana has gone on to make 176 appearances for the club, netting 22 times, providing 19 assists, and totalling 10,232 minutes played. The 26-year-old has only played 420 minutes this season, yet to provide a goal or assist, and his value according to Transfermarkt is down at £3.3m.
First Impressions
What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast's 'First Impressions' series has everything you need.
So West Ham currently look like they made the correct decision, selling the winger for a great fee (£18m), whilst his value was at its peak. But how has the sale of Diangana also impacted the wingers since for West Ham?
West Ham's current crop of wingers
The Hammers have gone on to acquire the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Crysencio Summerville, and even Luis Guilherme as their set of wingers, who all currently look to be outperforming Diangana.
Stats (per 90 mins)
Diangana
Bowen
Kudus
Summerville
Goals
0.00
0.37
0.26
0.24
Assists
0.00
0.19
0.13
0.00
xG
0.06
0.21
0.38
0.25
xAG
0.06
0.33
0.11
0.21
Progressive Carries
2.13
4.02
5.00
3.75
Progressive Passes
5.11
3.91
2.70
1.67
Shots Total
1.06
2.50
3.64
1.67
Key Passes
0.43
2.53
0.68
2.08
Shot-Creating Actions
1.91
4.02
3.38
5.00
Diangana ranks last in eight of the nine metrics analysed above, all of which are considered to be important metrics for wingers/attacking midfielders. The 26-year-old does rank highest for progressive passing, with 5.11 per 90, but he also ranks the lowest for key passes, with 0.43 per 90.
Bowen, who was signed just six months before Diangana’s departure, has the best output of all the wingers (both goals and assists), produces the highest xAG (expected assisted goals), and plays the most key passes per 90.
Whilst at the time, Noble and many others were angry and upset about the sale of Diangana, it seems to have worked for the best, with West Ham now having the likes of Bowen, Kudus and Summerville on their books, all of which are valued significantly higher than the 26-year-old Diangana.
West Ham wasted £52.8m on flop who earned over 2x more than Summerville
West Ham had a howler on the big-money signing.
1 ByEthan LambOct 30, 2024