As West Ham close in on the signing of exciting wingback El Hadji Malick Diouf, some bad news about the deal has emerged alongside high praise from his manager.
Graham Potter is finally on the verge of making his first permanent signing as West Ham boss with El Hadji Malick Diouf in London for a medical.
Imminent Hammers signing Diouf was given a rousing send-off by Slavia Prague which suggests the club have got some player on their hands.
A deal was finally agreed between West Ham and the 22-time Czech champions for Senegal wingback Diouf at £19.5m – with around £3m of potential add-ons.
It is the record transfer in Czech football history.
Hammers fans had started to become increasingly concerned about the club’s transfer inactivity as a deal for 20-year-old Diouf stalled last week.
Diouf pictured flying in for West Ham medical
Potter finally got his man on Sunday, though, with the Slavia fan favourite jetting over to London for his tests and to sign his West Ham contract.
It was a case of who needs Tim Steidten when a picture was posted by a French journalist showing Diouf on a plane with his agent bound for West Ham.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka found himself in Diouf’s pocket when England lost 3-1 to Senegal last month.
West Ham’s new boy – pending a successful medical – will provide some much-needed balance for the Hammers with Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right.
Hammers fans are seriously excited that the club has gone out and paid good money to sign a quality, young and dynamic new left-back.
Supporters are finding the new recruitment policy very refreshing as Potter looks to completely revamp the team.
West Ham look to have had the last laugh on Spurs over the Diouf deal.
Especially after they were able to land him with just over a third of the £54.5m Spurs will be paying them for Mohammed Kudus.
But this is West Ham, and it seems every transfer saga has a sting in the tail.
Because now some bad news on a West Ham deal for Diouf has emerged after his manager’s high praise.
Bad news on West Ham deal for Diouf after manager’s high praise
Diouf may only have been with Slavia for little more than a year, but the impact he has made has been huge.
Just ask his manager Jindřich Trpišovský.
Opening up on Diouf’s departure for West Ham, Trpišovský admitted the move to London and the Premier League is a ‘dream come true’ for the Senegal star.
He also stated that Diouf will be missed as a player and a person and backing him to do great things in the future.
“He personally wanted London a lot, and it worked out for him,” Trpišovský told leading Czech outlet inFotbal.
“We are all happy that his big dream came true.
“I’m so happy for Malick. I’ll miss him as a football player, but above all as a person. The way he treated people at the club, people in the coaching staff, everyone, was simply unbelievable. He’s an amazing person, incredibly kind, humble. I’m so happy for him. After six months of looking around, he had a great season.
“The boy is extraordinary and will be even better. His potential is brutal.”
Hammers agreed abnormally high clause at 11th hour of talks
Even more reason that a further revelation from the same Czech outlet could be bad news for West Ham long-term.
InFotbal has lifted the lid on the fine details of the agreement between West Ham and Slavia Prague.
And it is claimed that in order to get a deal over the line amid interest from elsewhere – including Leeds and Atalanta – the Hammers have had to agree to an abnormally high sell-on clause.
A normal sell-on clause for a player is between 10-20 per cent of any profit made.
But the report states West Ham had to sign up to handing down ‘an unusually high percentage’ of any future sale of Diouf, should he excel and attract a big money move in the future.
Slavia’s sports director Jiří Bílek described Diouf’s sale to West Ham as a ‘very interesting package that only arose in the last 10 minutes of negotiations to seal a deal’.
“He leaves with the understanding that Slavia will make money again on his possible future and even more expensive transfer,” the report states.
That means West Ham will make significantly less on any future sale of Diouf if the sell-on clause is abnormally high.
But Hammers fans can leave the club to worry about that while they concentrate on enjoying what looks to be a seriously exciting young signing who ticks all the right boxes.
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