It seems quite a while ago now that El Hadji Malick Diouf of West Ham United was leading the way across European football.
With three assists from his first five Premier League outings, Diouf was the first full-back in Europe to reach that tally in 2025/26. At the time, his third coming when setting up Jarrod Bowen’s clever header against Crystal Palace in what would be Graham Potter’s farewell outing as West Ham United manager, the former Slavia Prague flyer was also well on his way to becoming only the fourth to hit double figures in the assists department this Century.
Only Paolo di Canio, Dimitri Payet the aforementioned Bowen had recorded over ten in a Premier League season since the Millennium.
But, across the entirety of the Nuno Espirito Santo era, El Hadji Malick Diouf is yet to add to that tally.
How far can Malick Diouf go? And what does he need to do to become a world-class left-back?
He did create Bowen’s equaliser against Everton on Nuno’s Hammers bow – Jamie Carragher labelled Diouf ‘fantastic’ in the Sky Sports studio – but he would be denied a fourth assist of 2025/26 thanks to a touch from Toffees defender Michael Keane.
Souffian El Karouani, though, is showing no signs of slowing down. Dutch publication De Telegraaf, in addition to reporting interest from Eintracht Frankfurt, Bologna, FC Porto, Benfica and West Ham, label him the ‘assist king’ of Utrecht.
It’s a moniker he certainly deserves.
FC Utrecht star Souffian El Karouani seems keen on West Ham United move
In 28 appearances this season, El Karouani has recorded a staggering 15 assists. The diminutive left-back has always been a reliable source of chance creation at Utrecht but he has gone to another level entirely this term.
In fact, one more assist and El Karouani will have doubled his tally from 2024/25.
With the Morocco international’s contract running out next summer, meanwhile, the likes of Frankfurt, Bologna or West Ham could land themselves quite the bargain.
Speaking earlier this week, El Karouani swung the doors wide open as a January bidding war threatens to present itself.
“It’s a goal of mine to reach the World Cup,” the Dutch-born 25-year-old told De Telegraaf. “Going to a bigger club can also make a difference. A club might come along in January, buy me, and I’ll play every game there.
“Or I might play every game here. That’s also a possibility. It could go either way. But I want a win-win situation for FC Utrecht.
“They can make some money off me. I want to leave through the front door. I will sit down with my father and agent and assess the situation. But first, I’ll focus on these [final matches of 2025].”
Agent speaks out after Utrecht came close to doing £7m deal
Clearly, should the chance to follow Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus to East London present itself, this is an opportunity El Karouani would at least give a great deal of consideration to. Especially with the aforementioned World Cup looming.
According to reporter Jeroen Kapteijns, Utrecht were set to complete a £7 million deal with Russian outfit FC Krasnodar last August. The transfer fell through at the final moments. This, though, does offer an indication as to the sort of fee the Eredivisie outfit may be looking for, even if El Karouani’s contract is now a few months closer to its expiry date.
“I understand he’s being linked to multiple clubs,” agent Mahmoud El Boustati told Voetbal Primeur at the start of December. “He did fantastic last season, and he’s having an even better season this year, statistically speaking.
“But for now, he’s solely focused on Utrecht. He wants to be important for the team.”
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