It is not often Fabrizio Romano is wide of the mark but, with regards to West Ham United’s ongoing pursuit of Slavia Prague left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, it appears the all-seeing oracle of football transfers may have gotten one detail wrong.
Romano was certainly right about West Ham United targeting the Senegal international.
Hammers News can confirm that head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay has approved deals for El Hadji Malick Diouf and Oscar Mingueza of Celta Vigo.
The former is West Ham’s first-choice target to replace Aaron Cresswell and the departing Emerson Palmieri on the left. Mingueza, once of Barcelona, has been chosen to battle Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right.
Romano, however, claimed that West Ham had seen a £17 million bid rejected by Slavia Prague. A claim Jaroslav Tvrdik, the Czech champions’ president, takes issue with.
Speaking to Idnes, Tvrdik insists that West Ham’s opening offer was actually short of that £17 million mark. He does not put an exact number on the figure Slavia Prague want, though it is believed that any further offers may have to land somewhere in the region of £21.5 million in order for the talks to continue.
Clearly, suggestions that Diouf was on his way to London for a medical over the weekend were very premature indeed.
Slavia Prague president open to selling El Hadji Malick Diouf to West Ham United
Yet, Tvrdik retains a strong working relationship with the London Stadium outfit.
Many West Ham supporters are so excited by Diouf, not just because the Senegal star had Bukayo Saka ‘in hell’ during a stunning 3-1 win over the Three Lions in June, but also because the claret and blue success of Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal feels like a hugely promising omen.
Conference League-winning heroes Soucek and Coufal both joined West Ham from Slavia Prague, after all.
Tvrdik remains open to doing business with the Hammers again, too, so long as they are willing to meet his demands.
“Life is dynamic. We are in contact with several clubs. I still think [Diouf] should be a potential priority for West Ham,” Tvrdik says in new comments broadcast on Tuesday. “If the interest is not as we imagine, we are prepared not to sell him.
“We generally say that offers from the Premier League are not [often] rejected, but it has to be a good offer. We are aware of his high quality.”
Jaroslav Tvrdik suggests Diouf could eclipse Hammers hero Tomas Soucek
Crystal Palace saw two offers for Diouf rejected in January. Tvrdik admitted that Chelsea had shown an interest too.
The president believes that a 20-year-old left-back who scored seven goals last season also possesses a higher ceiling than either Coufal or Soucek.
Then again, this is the same man who once described Abdallah Sima – the forward who did not score a single goal at Brighton – as the second coming of Thierry Henry.
“[Diouf] is perhaps the player with the greatest potential in the last ten years. We are ready to sell him, but we are [operating] based on some objective data. We are very aware of his price and we are patient,” Tvrdik adds.
“We will wait to see if an offer comes that appreciates the quality of this player. However, there is also the option that Malick Diouf will play in the Champions League with Slavia.”
Jindrich Trpisovsky, the man who guided Slavia to an eighth Czech First League title last season, is confident that El Hadji Malick Diouf will be a West Ham player come September.
Diouf was conspicuous by his absence as the rest of Slavia’s players returned for pre-season training this week. Trpisovsky admits this was a decision made to reduce the risk of an injury which would scupper his potential £20 million-plus departure.
A point Tvrdik now backs up, even if he believes that Diouf might not have played his last game yet in the red and white kit.
“The fact that he has not played in the training camp so far was a natural precaution,” the president explains. “He returned from Africa [after his holiday] and we gave him a little more time off.
“But there is no reason for him not to be available and play on Wednesday [in a friendly with Diosgyori VTK] or in the training camp at the weekend. Everything will depend on whether the negotiations about his transfer move significantly in the coming hours or not.”
Hammers News can confirm that West Ham enquired about Maxim de Cuyper too, in pursuit of a new left-back.
Belgium flyer De Cuyper completed his £17 million move to Brighton and Hove Albion from Club Brugge on Saturday.
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