West Ham United ace Declan Rice has told the Daily Mail that he thinks Grady Diangana could have made a huge impact.
The Hammers chose to sold winger Diangana to West Bromwich Albion earlier this month, following a successful loan spell with the Baggies.
The move went down like a lead balloon in East London, with fans gutted to see the club sell a homegrown prospect.
Diangana looked superb in the Championship last season, but instead of earning playing time under David Moyes, he has now been sold.
Fans have been rallying against the club’s owners as a result of the sale, and their mood wasn’t improved by a 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday.
West Ham now face a hugely difficult run of games, and midfielder Rice has been asked about the impact of Diangana’s sale on the mood at the club.
Rice has suggested that he is ‘gutted’ to see fellow academy graduate Diangana leave, as he ‘knows’ how good he could have been for West Ham.
However, Rice added that the situation was done and dusted days ago and didn’t make an impact on the Newcastle game.
“That was done and dusted 10 days ago,” said Rice. “I’m gutted to see him gone because he’s one of my best mates and I know what he could have done for this club, but none of that was in our minds against Newcastle. It’s sad but we move on from that,” he added.
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