West Bromwich Albion supporters won’t have to wait too much longer to see who their beloved Baggies will play in the opening matches of the new Championship season.
Indeed, the always hotly anticipated fixture list will be released next week, with Ryan Mason hopeful that whatever selection of fixtures is thrust his side’s way, they can start the fresh second-tier campaign with a bang, instead of a whimper.
One figure that definitely won’t feature under Mason’s early tenure is Grady Diangana, with the Congolese forward reportedly edging ever closer to a Hawthorns departure, after failing to seal an extended contract this summer.
Diangana's current situation
Mason’s arrival on the scene might well have contributed to the former West Ham United man wanting to leave, knowing that the 33-year-old boss would want to stamp his mark onto proceedings from the get-go.
It is a sad severing of the ties, however, with Diangana once viewed as an electric menace donning Baggies blue and white in both the Premier League and in the EFL.
In total, the 27-year-old would collect an impressive combined tally of 48 goals and assists from 202 appearances in the West Midlands, with Diangana often having the Hawthorns masses in the palm of his hand when pulling off unbelievable finishes like the one above.
But, the output on Diangana’s end had begun to dry up – as seen in just four goals and three assists coming his way last season – with a reported reunion now on the cards for him to uproot to Valencia to link up with ex-Baggies boss Carlos Corberan to try and recapture his best.
Whilst Diangana looks forward to his possible moment in the sun in Spain, West Brom will no doubt be on the hunt for a replacement to bolster their options in attack.
West Brom's "fabulous" Diangana replacement
After all, the long-standing servant’s exit will be felt in terms of the personnel Mason can select from.
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Jed Wallace is the only other recognisable right winger in the depleted Baggies camp currently in the wake of Diangana moving on, whilst the rookie manager has even fewer faces to call upon in the number ten spot – another position that the 27-year-old was comfortable playing in – with John Swift also heading out of the building on a free transfer.
Therefore, in hunting down an immediate fix to Diangana’s exit, West Brom will need to win themselves a versatile and flexible presence who can play all over the attacking positions.
Who could that be? Well, former Derby County captain Tom Lawrence is perhaps their man. It has been reported by TEAMtalk this week that West Brom are interested in landing the now free agent forward.
Away from his ability to be adaptable making him a worthwhile candidate to replace Diangana, the 31-year-old also boasts a vast collection of goals and assists in the Championship himself, with a mighty 50 goals and 40 assists tallied up from 264 career appearances in the second-tier.
Staggeringly, that’s 42 more goal contributions than the Valencia-linked star managed during his entire Hawthorns spell, albeit from 62 fewer clashes.
LW
157
30
21
SS
57
9
9
CF
21
5
2
RW
16
2
7
AM
6
2
0
LM
3
2
1
The similarities don’t just stop here either, with Lawrence also prone to scoring an audacious strike or two during his celebrated Derby stay, much like Diangana at his Baggies peak.
His expertise in this regard even saw ex-Rams boss Gary Rowett label the entertaining Welshman as “fabulous” when the pair were together at Pride Park, as West Brom now pray he can arrive on the scene this summer and roll back the years to fire Mason and Co. to promotion.
Pulling off such a feat would make the managerial newcomer an instant icon at the Hawthorns, with Lawrence also entering into the club’s hall-of-fame no doubt by securing a promotion success Diangana could never get over the line.
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