West Ham believe they will receive a bid from Aston Villa for El Hadji Malick Diouf as PSG close in on a bargain £8.5m deal for Lucas Digne.
- Hammers News exclusive
It is inevitable when a team is relegated that Premier League clubs circle for their top talent and that is no different for the Hammers.
Aston Villa have already been linked with West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen.
West Ham braced for Villa bid for Diouf as Digne replacement
But Aston Villa can forget that because, as Hammers News was the first to exclusively reveal days after relegation, Bowen has told West Ham he is staying.
The Hammers skipper’s father-in-law Danny Dyer confirmed Bowen is staying at West Ham to ‘smash up the Championship’ in a new interview on Monday.
Be honest; where do YOU think Malick Diouf will be playing next season? 🇸🇳
Still at West Ham? A big-money move to Man United? Or somewhere in between?
West Ham are braced for a bid from Aston Villa for El Hadji Malick Diouf, though.
As widely reported, French giants PSG are closing in on signing Lucas Digne from Aston Villa after activating his bargain £8.5m release clause.
Digne, who has starred for France at the World Cup, will be confirmed as a PSG player this week.
That means Villa have a left-back void to fill.
And Hammers News can exclusively reveal West Ham believe Villa will make a move for Diouf.
A leading Hammers source says the club are aware of interest from the Midlanders with Unai Emery a big fan of the Senegalese.
West Ham value Diouf at £30m and under no pressure to sell
There had been intense speculation Diouf would be sold after what was an impressive debut season overall given he is only 20 years old.
How much Villa will offer remains to be seen – but West Ham are believed to value Diouf at £30m – £10m more than they paid Slavia Prague for him last summer.
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The West Ham source made it clear to Hammers News that Nuno Espirito Santo would prefer to keep Diouf and believes a year in the Championship will actually do him good.
Aston Villa should be warned that the source also states the Hammers will not budge on price if they do decide to bid, because new majority owner Daniel Kretinsky has already gone on record to state West Ham do not need to sell players for financial reasons.
West Ham proved they are sticking to their valuations with the stance they took over Mateus Fernandes.
Any bid from Aston Villa to make Diouf Digne’s replacement would be rejected out of hand if it comes in at anything less than £30m.
Hammers News will bring you more on this as we get it.
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