West Ham manager David Moyes says he senses no resentment within his squad after the Grady Diangana debacle after West Ham sold their starlet to West Bromwich Albion.
The Hammers board has come under massive fire from supporters and also captain Mark Noble, who went viral on social media after saying he was “sad, angry and gutted” the club decided to cash in on Diangana.
West Ham’s failure to sell high earners Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini plus injury-plagued midfielder Jack Wilshere meant they sacrificed Diangana instead in an extremely unpopular move.
The Covid pandemic and the expensive Manuel Pellegrini era in east London have taken the brunt of the blame for the “sell to buy” ethos that is the club’s transfer strategy this summer. The sales of Albian Ajeti, Jordan Hugill and Roberto haven’t brought in the funds needed to strengthen West Ham’s leaky defence.
Moyes is pondering returning with a third bid for Burnley defender James Tarkowski with the Hammerts having had bids of £27million and £30million rejected by the Clarets.
It was Noble’s tweet that was liked more than 75,000 times by the likes of Declan Rice and other teammates as well as the general public, that brought even more attention to the move that was incredibly unpopular when it first emerged.
Noble is believed to have held clear the air talks with the Hammers ownership last weekend and Moyes says he is all for his players being open and honest.
“Let’s be fair, if we have this, if we want open communication, people should be allowed to speak what they think,” the manager said.
“I think the biggest thing is that Grady was very much part of the group, the players were part of the group he’d come through. Mark Noble, more than anyone, had probably seen him develop as a young player, so from that point of view I think he was entitled to give his opinion.
“We encourage the players to speak openly but also we know what Mark means to the club and what he thinks of the club.”
Moyes was also asked if the players had shown any resentment in the aftermath of the sale of popular winger Diangana, who excelled on loan at West Bromwich Albion last season and was expected to play a huge role in the upcoming season.
Diangana fitted the mould of a player that Moyes wanted to build his team around this season, young and hungry with a point to prove but now he is at a potential relegation rival in West Brom.
I think they showed real true solidarity amongst themselves, I think the captain showed exactly what the players feel,” Moyes added.
“I think there is a real building spirit here, so, look I think what happens is football players move on at any club and things change at every club.
“I can go and tell you what it felt like when I lost Wayne Rooney at 18, when I was at Everton. Did we feel bad at that time? Yes we did, but we were building a team that finished in Europe the majority of seasons after that.
“Football moves on, whether it be the manager of the players. I’ve got to say, the players since we’ve come back have been in great spirit. But that’s partly due to the way they finished the season after lockdown.”
