Diego Poyet González (; born 8 April 1995) is a retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the assistant manager of the Greece national football team. His father is former Uruguay international footballer Gus Poyet.
He began his career at Charlton Athletic, where he was their 2013–14 Player of the Season despite not featuring in the first team until January. In July 2014, he was signed by West Ham, who have loaned him to Huddersfield Town, Milton Keynes Dons and Charlton.
Poyet has played for England at under-16 and under-17 levels and for Uruguay at under-20 level.
Club career
Charlton Athletic
Having started his career at Charlton Athletic since joining the club's U13 side, Poyet was offered a scholarships by The Addicks in March 2011 and signed his first professional deal five months later. Having progressed through Charlton Athletic's academy, he signed his first professional contract with the club.
Poyet made his professional debut on 21 January 2014 in a 3–0 FA Cup third-round win over Oxford United, entering the match as an 81st-minute substitute for Dale Stephens. He made his first league start for Charlton Athletic on 1 February 2014 in a 2–1 defeat away to Wigan Athletic. After making these appearance, the club's manager Chris Powell expected Poyet to make more appearances in the first team. Following this, he did eventually become a first team regular, rotating in either playing in the defensive midfield or central midfield positions. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Poyet went on to make twenty–three (20 league games) in all competitions. For his performance, he was named Charlton's Player of the Year despite only becoming a regular in the team in February.
On 26 June 2014, Charlton announced that Poyet had indicated that he would not be signing an extension to his contract ending on 1 July 2014, and would be exploring his options elsewhere.
West Ham United
Poyet joined West Ham United on 8 July 2014, signing a four-year contract with West Ham and Charlton reaching a settlement for compensation. His father, Gus, manager of Sunderland, was also keen to sign his son, but backed away, citing fear of nepotism which could have caused conflict in the dressing room. Upon joining the club, he was given a number twenty–three shirt.
On 23 August 2014, Poyet made his debut for West Ham United, against Crystal Palace, coming on in the 83rd minute for Mauro Zárate in a 3–1 away win. Four days later, he started for the first time, playing the full 120 minutes and scoring in the penalty shoot-out as the club lost at home to Sheffield United in the second round of the League Cup. A month later on 27 September 2014, Poyet made his first start in the Premier League, starting a match and played 75 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–1 loss against Manchester United. Following his loan spell at Huddersfield Town came to an end, he made his first appearance for West Ham United in the FA Cup third round match against Everton, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute, in a 1–1 draw on 6 January 2015. At the end of the 2014–15 season, he went on to make five appearances in all competitions.
On 23 July 2015, as a substitute for captain Kevin Nolan, Poyet scored the winner in a penalty shootout at the Ta' Qali National Stadium in Malta, at the end of a 1–1 aggregate draw with Birkirkara in the second qualifying round of the season's UEFA Europa League. He continued to appear in the club's matches in the UEFA Europa League before being eliminated by Astra Giurgiu in the third round. Without having played any games for West Ham in the 2016–17 season, Poyet's contract was cancelled by West Ham United on 31 August 2016 by mutual consent and by the time he departed from the club, Poyet had made 10 appearances in all competitions for West Ham.
Loan Spells from West Ham United
On 7 November 2014, Poyet joined Huddersfield Town of the Championship on a one-month youth loan until 6 December 2014. He was signed by Powell, his former manager at Charlton. The day after he signed, Poyet was an unused substitute as Huddersfield lost 3–1 away at Fulham. He made his début on 22 November at the John Smith's Stadium, playing the full 90 minutes in a goalless draw against Sheffield Wednesday. He played the next game against Bolton Wanderers, but was not included in their 2–1 win over Brentford, and returned to West Ham at the end of his loan.