West Brom ace Grady Diangana has admitted that he wants to follow in the footsteps of former Albion loanee Harvey Barnes by making a big impact at the Hawthorns this season.

Diangana joined West Brom on a season-long loan from West Ham United on transfer deadline day and has been one of the standout players for the Baggies in the Championship this season.

The 21-year-old has impressed hugely since arriving at the Hawthorns and scoring four goals and providing five assists in 14 league appearances. He's played a key role in ensuring that Albion sit two points clear at the top of the table after 16 matches.

The winger has admitted that he is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Barnes, who enjoyed an excellent loan spell at West Brom during the first half of last season.

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Barnes scored nine goals and provided seven assists in 26 Championship appearances, before being recalled by his parent club Leicester City in January.

Speaking to the Express & Star, Diangana has admitted that he admires Barnes as a player and is hoping that he can make a similar sort of impact for West Brom in the Championship this season.

"I have watched footage of what he (Barnes) did when he was at West Brom. I took good things from that and learned from what he did.

"He is quicker than me and scored a lot of solo goals, but some of his other goals were knowing where to be at the right time and the timing of the run.

"I watched the off-the-ball movement because I'm at a stage where I'm trying to create and score goals and trying to find the best and most efficient ways to get a goal or an assist and seeing which movements work. Hopefully I can push on like he's done."

The Verdict

Diangana is a very exciting and talented footballer. He's been excellent so far this season and he's already been able to establish himself as one of the standout players in the entire Championship.

You can understand why he takes inspiration from Barnes and wants to follow in his footsteps - just look at how the Leicester player's career has gone from strength to strength since his loan spell at the Hawthorns.

Diangana is already well on the way to bettering Barnes' numbers from last season and he's clearly going to have a key role to play in Albion's promotion push this season.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.