West Ham’s sale of Grady Diangana to West Bromwich Albion caused a considerable backlash in the summer.

The winger’s £18m exit caused Mark Noble to tweet his unhappiness, as fans rallied around the youngster.

However, the move has not exactly gone as planned.

Diangana has made 15 appearances in the Premier League but he has scored just once, in the 5-2 defeat to Everton in the Baggies’ second game of the season.

Signed under the management of Slaven Bilic, the club have since sacked the Croatian and appointed Sam Allardyce as manager, but they remain 19th in the Premier League, six points off safety.

The Hammers, by comparison, are 10th, just six points behind third-placed Manchester City.

And former Premier League striker Darren Bent believes the club pulled off a masterstroke when they sold Diangana, despite how it appeared at the time.

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “It looks like a masterstroke from David Moyes to let Diangana go because he’s not really pulled up any trees.

“They need defenders before they worry about anyone else. I was banging the drum when they got Big Sam in… I thought ‘That’s it, they won’t go down.’

“But if anything, they’ve looked worse when Big Sam’s got there than under Bilic at times.”

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

There was always a suspicion this would happen.

Sources have told GMS that West Brom were the only club interested in signing him, and that ultimately coloured the Hammers’ thinking.

They did not feel that he would be missed all that much and so it has proved.

The money was subsequently used to bring in both Said Benrahma and Craig Dawson and one has to say that the Irons’ squad looks all the better for Diangana not being in it.

Moyes got this one spot on.