West Bromwich Albion attacker Grady Diangana has outlined his ambition to follow the same path of West Ham team-mate Declan Rice, but insists he will only achieve that by remaining grounded and concentrating on his football with the Baggies.

Diangana has enjoyed an excellent start to his season-long loan at West Brom from West Ham United, with the 21-year-old managing to add some extra creative spark to Slaven Bilic's side, scoring four and assisting four goals in the Championship so far this campaign.

That has seen the attacker be rewarded with his first call up to the England U21s for matches against Turkey U21s and Kosovo U21s back in September, and with Diangana's West Ham team-mate Declan Rice managing to establish himself in the England senior national team in the last few months, the 21-year-old will be hoping to follow that path by maintaining his recent form.

Speaking to the Express and Star, Diangana expressed his ambition to repeat the same success as West Ham team-mate Declan Rice, but believes he can only do that staying grounded and concentrating on his football at West Brom, saying: "I’ve always been someone who’s grounded and I don’t let things get to my head

"Playing with Declan and seeing where he’s got to and how he’s got there and the things he’s had to do to get there has helped me develop as a player.

"Hopefully I can be just as good as him.

"Declan is definitely someone I can learn from."

The Verdict

Diangana has been excellent so far this season during his loan spell with West Brom, and he is being given the chance to develop with consistent first team football in the Championship by Bilic, with the attacker rewarding his manager's faith by producing quality performances on the field.

The 21-year-old is rightly ambitious to follow in Rice's footsteps by earning a call up to the senior England team in the next few years, but he is also right to ensure that he remains grounded and concentrates on continuing his development at West Brom during the rest of the campaign.

Diangana has shown so far this season that he has the potential to improve and perform well at a higher level than the Championship, and the Baggies will be hopeful that his ability can help them go one better than last season and secure promotion back to the Premier League this term.