Grady Diangana has landed an incredible double with his Hammers debut and a first start as an England international.

At the start of the campaign the 20 year old was entirely off the radar making his arrival all the more spectacular.

That he takes it all in his stride is impressive and th 2-0 win over Germany on Monday left him a tiny bit disappointed and saying: “Scoring would have made today just that little bit more special for me.”

He added: “I’m just glad we got the win though. We knew how the Germans would play. They try to keep possession and we knew what we had to do, on and off the ball. It paid off with the two goals.”

 

“I found out about the call-up the day before we played Huddersfield Town. It was obviously a really exciting moment and I told my whole family straight away.

“It’s been a good week. The camp has clearly had a lot of thought put into it and every day we are set different targets. It’s a good group here as well. Everyone is really funny and the quality is high as well.”

Head coach Paul Simpson has had much to say to the young Hammer who said:“Paul and I have had a lot of meetings, and we talked about what it means to play for England

. “He wants me to be composed and fearless and for me, it was about going out there and doing my job for the team, and enjoying myself.”

West Ham United Academy Director Terry Westley said:  “It’s a proud moment for us to see one of our Academy graduates play for England U20s against Germany, a high-profile match, for his first game.

He is looking so confident and he has so much belief in his own ability. I was really pleased to see that he wasn’t frightened by the occasion. I thought he was England’s biggest threat in the first half.”

But be believes there is much he has to achieve adding: “He won’t want to come out of the England set-up or the West Ham first team

“He’s had a taste of playing in front of big crowds, and at London Stadium, and he’s now got the challenge of taking it on further.

“There’s a lot of work still to be done and it’s about building on his great start over the coming months and years.”