Leaving West Ham was a mistake

  • by Staff Writer
  • Saturday, 2nd May 2020

Alessandro Diamanti may have spent just one season at West Ham - but the former Italian international believes it was a mistake to leave Upton Park.

The Prato-born attacking midfielder, who celebrates his 37th birthday today (Saturday) joined West Ham in August 2009 in a deal reported at the time to be worth £5.5million.



Diamanti's first game in claret and blue - a 6-0 win against Birmingham's reserves in which he scored twice [pic: KUMB]


The transfer was secured with the aid of then chief sponsor SBO Bet, who provided funds in advance in order to allow the then cash-stricken West Ham to complete the transfer.

Diamanti, who scored on his full debut for West Ham from the penalty spot in a 3-2 defeat against Liverpool went on to enjoy a productive season, but was sold after just one term at the Boleyn Ground in order to allow West Ham to reduce the clubs mounting debts.

And even though his stay in east London was such a short one, the popular Diamanti admitted in an interview this week that he would've liked to remain at the club for longer than just one year.

"With the help of Gianfranco Zola I managed to settle down," he said. "Leaving West Ham was a mistake."

And recalling his debut Diamanti recalled how, having being given the job of spot kick taker ahead of Mark Noble who had already begun to establish himself as the club's penalty king, he almost fluffed his lines.



Fan cam: Diamanti slips - but still scores


As he ended his run-up, the Italian slipped and appeared to make contact with the ball twice - although Liverpool's objections were ignored by referee Andre Marriner.

"Pepe Reina screamed and complained," said Diamanti, whose penalty went straight down the middle. "He said I had taken two touches. He thought it was mean of me for not confessing!"

Diamanti left West Ham almost a year to the day after moving to England, having made just 28 first team appearances for the club and scored seven goals for the club. His sale raised just £1.8m although it took several years for West Ham to recoup the fee.

Diamanti, who currently plays his football in Australia's A-League for Western United famously went on to score the deciding penalty that knocked England out of the 2012 European Championships.



The 2012 shootout in which Diamanti had the final say


And he insists he has no desire to retire despite being 40 just three years from now."I am well physically and mentally," he mused. "As long as I manage to keep up with the youngsters, I'm not going to quit."

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