The ongoing saga between West Ham United and Slavia Prague over Senegal international El Hadji Malick-Diouf rumbles on. The Czech side have publicly announced they want a minimum of €25m (£21-£22m) to part ways with the young left back who only joined them a year ago for £2.1m from Tromso.
Crystal Palace made two bids for the player during the January transfer window – €15m and €17m – but both offers were rejected. As a result they decided not to pursue the player any further. Slavia made it clear at the time that they wanted a minimum of €20m.
Now, their asking price has increased by a further €5m – largely based on a strong season and an outstanding performance in Senegal’s recent 3-1 win against England.
The President of Slavia Prague, Jaroslav Tvrdik commented in January “Fifteen and Seventeen million Euros. These are not the amounts we want. We quite consciously put a high price tag on him.” He however went onto say that they would cash in at the same price rage if Liverpool came in for him. Indeed The Reds did reportedly make an enquiry yet while the players data placed him in the 95th percentile for aerial duels, his positional discipline and decision making in defensive situations raised some concerns. Also the player would be unavailable during the African Cup of Nations so would miss valuable playing time.
Diouf also cast doubts that he would be a first team starter at Anfield and said “Would I play for Liverpool? Would I fit in there? For me it is essential I don’t stop. I need to play.”
West Ham have had a bid of around £17m rejected which is approximately €19m. Reports this morning suggest both clubs are still locked in talks.
Another option being explored by West Ham is Girona player Arnau Martinez who has a €15m release clause, the logic being he can play on the right which would mean moving Wan-Bissaka to the left side with Scarles also in contention for a spot.
Martinez offers something different at right back and is a replacement for Coufal, he can also cover at CB which means we can sell Mavropanos, would be good if we could sign him but given the struggle to do a relatively simple deal with Slavia won’t be holding my breath.
I’m in Prague from the Slavia versus Dresden match and there they were officially saying goodbye to Hadji Malick D, who is leaving for West Ham. He came on for 1 minute to say goodbye to the fans. That’s what the announcer at the stadium said.
We need to be the ones buying him from Tromso for £2m, not Slavia Prague .. Other clubs have partnerships with other clubs where youngsters can play and be tested and moved up if they’re good enough .. You don’t need many players at £2m to come good for that strategy to pay off ..
Sounds like Slavia Prague have a good business acumen, they only paid 2.1 mil , what !
All know the winner of this contest _cheapest option.
He’s not coming…
Fabrizio has said he is. What’s your source?
We need a proper left back. Not buy another right back, so that our first choice right back can play left back.
We are a Premier League team for heaven’s sake. Wan Bissaka can slot in and do a job at left back but we need a left footed player there who can overlap the left winger and deliver crosses.
If we think this player is the answer then stop haggling over a few million and sign him. If not, move on as it’s a waste of everyone’s time and frustrates the fan base.
We’ve wasted so much money on old rope and we argue to the toss over £3-4m. We dropped £30m on Kudus. Makes no sense
West ham are embarising and they deserve all they get next season
If Potter wants him then just pay the price for God’s sake!
Do we want the player or not, or is it of bigger value that Sullivan gets his low ball bid accepted?
Our transfer business i a circusact with clowns