New West Brom manager Valerien Ismael has been impressed with the improvements he is seeing in Grady Diangana, since the former Barnsley man arrived in late June, as reported by Birmingham Live.
The highly-rated 23-year-old struggled to transfer the promise shown during his 2019/20 Championship campaign into the Premier League last time out, starting just 15 games and scoring once as The Baggies were relegated straight back down to England's second tier.
Diangana, who joined West Brom permanently last year after a successful loan period the season prior, has been used on the right of a fearsome front three in pre-season, with Matty Phillips operating down the centre and with Karlan Grant being deployed on the left.
Speaking to Birmingham Live about Diangana's progress in the context of The Baggies newly-formed front three, Ismael said: “Step by step, he’s become stronger, and he’s on the front foot.”
“Grady, KG, Matty, they all perform for us. It’s a big season in front of the players, and we can see how with players, with the philosophy, I feel we can improve on it and for sure the confidence within the players.
“We need to work on their fitness because we saw that in some situations we need too much time to come back into shape and to go again, but it’s all in the process.”
West Brom begin their Championship campaign in just over a week when they travel to Lee Bowyer's Birmingham City.
The verdict:
Grady Diangana was sensational during West Brom's promotion-winning season a couple of seasons ago, but he struggled to use that momentum to perform at Premier League level.
He has now been provided with another opportunity to thrive in England's second-tier, and as seen before, he has the potential to emerge as one of the best players in the division.
He will be playing under a new style with Ismael, and we are yet to see if the 45-year-old's approach to football will benefit the young winger.
However, the signs are promising with Ismael's latest update. The three mentioned forwards will be vital to West Brom's season.