Grady Diangana has gone through a real whirlwind in his first month as a member of Manuel Pellegrini’s first team squad.
From scoring twice on debut in the Carabao Cup third round tie against Macclesfield Town, to getting his first taste of Premier League football in the final minute of the victory over Manchester United, then replacing the injured Andriy Yarmolenko in the first half of the derby duel with Tottenham, the 20-year-old has quickly earned the trust of his manager.
As a result, the Chilean did not hesitate to give Diangana his full top flight bow at Leicester City on Saturday, and he is desperate to build on his rapidly-growing experience.
First up, the Hammers have a swift rematch against their London rivals Tottenham on Wednesday, looking to earn a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals just eleven days after facing them in the league, and Diangana wants to feature from the start again.
Having played a central role in the 8-0 victory versus Macclesfield in the previous round, alongside fellow Academy stars Joe Powell and Conor Coventry, the youngster is keen to keep on learning.
“I’m just trying to get as many games and minutes as possible, and show the manager and the world what I can do,” he said.
“You can always do more, but I’ve done what I have done for the team in my games so far and tried my best off the ball and on the ball.”
Diangana is relishing the prospect of testing his game against the best the Premier League has to offer, and after taking on England international Ben Chilwell on Saturday, he is ready to face the challenge of Tottenham’s Euro 2016 semi-finalist Ben Davies at London Stadium.
He added: “Some of the players I’m playing now I played against before in the U23s and I remember coming up against Ben Chilwell in Premier League 2. He’s a top player now, which you can see with the way he goes up and down the line. I tried my hardest to cause him as much trouble as possible."