West Ham fans send warning to Malick Diouf as left-back told he has ‘lot to learn ‘

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No supporter ever wants to view their beloved club as a ‘stepping stone’ but, as El Hadji Malick Diouf opened up on his ambitions away from West Ham United, his comments felt like a reflection of football’s money-powered hierarchy.

The Senegal international is only a few months into the five-year contract he signed back in July.

But Malick Diouf is making noises about joining elite clubs already. Modern football in a nutshell, you can almost hear the critics cry. Where is the loyalty?

Fortunately, the West Ham United faithful seem a little more understanding. Not only of El Hadji Malick Diouf’s ambitions – what player does not want to represent Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG or Bayern Munich later down the line? – but of their place in the pecking order.

Like when he left Czech champions Slavia Prague for the London Stadium, West Ham is another step on his journey. He will not be joining Mark Noble in the one-club-man party, that’s for sure.

But are Diouf’s high hopes really that much of an issue? If a burning desire to follow in the footsteps of, say, Paris Saint-Germain’s superstar left-back Nuno Mendes brings out the best in the 20-year-old and helps power his emergence into one of the finest talents around, then the Hammers can only benefit.

Not just sporting-wise, but from a financial perspective too. Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher suggested that West Ham should be looking at Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth as prime examples of how to run the tightest of ships in the modern game.

Three historically smaller clubs, of course. But three who continuously pluck young up-and-comers out of relative obscurity, polish those diamonds and sell them on for a massive profit, before reinvesting that windfall in the next wonderkid to fall off the production line.

West Ham United fans warn El Hadji Malick Diouf he must improve to join the elite

Diouf, though, has a long way to go before he is going the way of Bryan Mbeumo, Moises Caicedo, Joao Pedro, David Raya or Nathan Ake. October’s 2-0 loss at Arsenal exposed Diouf’s ‘big problem’.

The West Ham sensation was criticised against Burnley last Saturday too.

While an exceptional crosser of the ball, the feeling is that he still has a lot to learn regarding the defensive side of the game if he is to achieve his lofty ambitions.

“In context, he’s saying he is ambitious. At moment, he’s way off [the level he wants to get to],” one fan writes in response to Diouf’s midweek quotes. “Got to learn to defend first! Either way, we get the best out of him and move him on for a big fee in the future.”

“With his delivery, he will be there in no time,” another agrees. “But tough to say this not even halfway through your first season, where you have been rough defensively in a relegation battle

“To be fair, he’s better off at a club where he’d have to do less defending. Therein lies the paradox of him making it to that level though.”

“If he wants to get a top five club in the world or Europe, he is going to have to learn how to defend properly first.”

“He wouldn’t get in a top five Premier League club with his defending. Great going forward. Not so much when players run at him.”

Diouf’s statement has some fans seeing the positive

In the main, the response to Diouf’s comments has been one of refreshing and all-too rare maturity. Nuno describes Diouf as a ‘diamond’ of a footballer, and a ‘beautiful boy’ off the pitch too. If he performs well enough at West Ham to catch the eye of Real Madrid and co, while commanding a transfer fee far, far in excess of the £20 million sum the Hammers parted with in the first place, then good on him.

“I don’t get how anyone can be too annoyed,” one supporter argues. “I think every players ambition is to play for a top five club.”

“I mean, can anyone blame him for wanting to play at an elite club? We almost certainly won’t be there in our lifetime. Would rather someone aims for that than just aiming at the Champions League, etc…”

“What is the issue with this? Name the best five clubs and you’re telling me, if you played at West Ham, you wouldn’t move? If Barca came in for ‘Nobes’ back in the day, you telling me he’d stay?”

“It’s his career, he should strive for greatness.”

“Getting three to five years of him growing to be good enough to be bought by a global, top five club is an excellent outcome.”

“I’m glad we’re finally signing players that want to be the best they can be, rather than be happy putting in average performances whilst on big wages at this club. We’ll get decent money to re-invest – probably badly!”

“To be fair, if he gets to that point with us through hard work, we’ll be benefitting either way.”

West Ham starlet is keen to emulate PSG’s Nuno Mendes

Malick Diouf was the first full-back to record three assists across any of Europe’s top-five leagues this season.

And while his wait for a fourth drags on – the most recent coming against Crystal Palace, Graham Potter’s final game in charge – only Jack Grealish, Quillindschy Hartman and a certain Mohammed Kudus are ahead of him in the Premier League charts.

“I saw Nuno Mendes say that, two years ago, he wasn’t yet at his best defensively. But look at him today, he’s strong. I think he’s also an example,” Diouf said while on Senegal duty, in quotes reported by Wiw Sport. “It’s simply up to us to work to be strong there.

“Ideally, I see myself in a top club, among the five best in the world. I think I have the potential to get there through hard work. And I hope, God willing, to achieve that. I have only been in the professional world for two years, so I remain patient.”