West Brom are facing a tough summer retaining West Ham United loanee Grady Diangana, with Kevin Phillips talking up the situation that might surround the transfer saga should the Baggies win promotion and the Hammers drop out of the Premier League.

Diangana has been part of the Albion squad battling Leeds United for the Championship title, with the playmaker scoring five goals and registering five assists in only 21 appearances.

Injuries have impacted his campaign, but the 22-year-old has still impressed and there’s a desire from both West Brom and West Ham to have him on board in 2020/21.

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Of course, West Brom could well be able to offer Premier League football then, but that might not be the case for West Ham, who aren’t out of the woods yet in terms of relegation.

And, that’s been a topic of discussion for West Brom pundit Phillips, who has offered his thoughts on the future of Diangana.

“It will be a difficult one from West Ham’s point of view because if they do go down, he’s the sort of player who can thrive in the Championship. He’s been a highlight and he’s one of the top players in the league,” Phillips told West Brom News.

“If he’s your player, you’d be crazy to let him go. You’d use him to try and bounce straight back.

“But, from the player’s point of view, if the club you’ve been at all season gets promoted to the Premier League, you want to play in the Premier League so you can kind of smell an agent getting involved to say ‘I want to stay where I am’. There could be a transfer request chucked in as well.”

In the past week, Championship clubs have returned to training and are looking to get plans in place for the season to resume.

For West Brom, they hold a six-point advantage over third-placed Fulham in the Championship, leaving automatic promotion firmly within their grasp. 

The Verdict

What happens with Diangana in the summer is going to be very interesting and when you think that West Brom and West Ham could switch divisions, it only adds to the intrigue.

You’ve got to feel that a lot of it will come down to Diangana and what he wants to do.

He clearly settled very quickly with Albion and cutting ties with them might not appeal to him if Slaven Bilic continues to sell things to him.

This will be good to watch in the summer.

Thoughts? Let us know!