Premier League cult hero's heart-breaking admission - 'I was in the fans' hearts'

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West Ham United cult hero Alessandro Diamanti has admitted leaving the Hammers is the biggest regret of his football career. The Italian maverick was quickly taken into the east Londoners' hearts when he arrived from AS Livorno in the summer of 2009.

He enjoyed one full season at the club, dazzling the Premier League with some breath-taking free-kicks and other magical moments. It appeared as though he was going to become as iconic as Paolo Di Canio , until he was sold to Brescia for £2.2million after a season - interestingly, Hammers owner David Gold sued Brescia after the Italian team sold him to Bologna.

Diamanti, who earned 17 caps for the Italian national team, did return to Upton Park for a season in the 2010/2011 campaign, but only made one appearance. The former attacker, who is now working at Australian side Melbourne City as their U23s manager, admitted he should have stayed at West Ham .

In an interview with Italian outlet Fanpage , he said: " When I went to England, I was a kid. I'd never been out of Italy, just a kid in London.

"I struggled for the first two or three months. Then, once I settled in the dressing room, I did better on the pitch too.

"I struggled a lot with the language. I didn't know anything about English. The English don't like it if you don't speak it, unlike Australians! At the end of the first interview I did in Australia , the journalist told me not to learn English, as he liked Italian-English!

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"I have no regrets. My only small regret would be leaving West Ham too early.

"I'd had a fantastic year. I was in the fans 'hearts, and perhaps I should have continued my journey there. But the hardest thing in life is making choices. It's easy to live and play with the mindset you have ten years later."

Diamanti contributed eight goals and six assists in 29 appearances for the east Londoners. However, after the club narrowly avoided Premier League relegation, by finishing 17th, then-manager Avram Grant decided to sacrifice him in a bid to raise funds.

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West Ham's £2.2m fee was a low one for a player who was close to averaging a goal contribution every two matches. Diamanti went on to become a football journeyman. His career took him to multiple clubs in Italy, to Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande, Watford and Australian outfit Western United - where he retired in 2023.

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