Over the last few weeks West Ham have been heavily linked with Slavia Prague left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf and are looking to make him the clubs first summer signing.
Reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano, reported on July 1st that West Ham had tabled an offer of around £17.2 million to the Czech side. However, he also reported that the offer had been rejected as they value the player at a higher price.
Some reports had suggested West Ham had agreed a deal for Diouf, but Slavia Prague President Jaroslav Tvrdík denied those reports in an interview he did with Czech news outlet iDNES.cz. However, he did confirm that the Hammers had put an offer in, two in fact, but said neither matched their asking price.
“There was a misunderstanding. There was talk of an offer that we were supposed to reject, but that information is false. There were two offers on the table, but neither of them exceeded 20 million euros [£17m] in the basic transfer price.
“Meanwhile, we have been saying for a long time that the price for Diouf will be over 20 million, and we do not have such an offer yet.”
Despite this, Slavia Prague Head Coach Jindřich Trpišovský thinks the transfer will happen when quoted by Česká Televize Sport and that it’s only a matter of time before he leaves. He also mentioned that Diouf is training away from the squad:
“It’s still the same. We all suspect that a transfer will happen. It’s a matter of time. It’s being handled by the club’s management, Mr. Tvrdík and Jirka Bílek.
“Malick has an individual programme, we don’t want anything to happen. He’s a player who has extraordinary quality; he’ll have it for the future. Slavia’s demands need to be satisfied. We take it as us being without him.”
West Ham’s most reliable source for transfer news, ExWHUEmployee reported this week that the East London club are hoping to agree a deal soon as Graham Potter see’s Diouf as the club’s number one target for left-back/left-wing-back. With this report it seems as though West Ham will return with a third offer but will need to match Slavia Prague’s asking price.
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What could we expect from Diouf?
Born December 28th, 2004, in Ziguinchor, Senegal, Diouf started his footballing career at Academie Mawade Wade in Senegal. After graduating he joined Norwegian side Tromsø in 2023, where he went on to make 21 appearances, scoring three goals.
In January 2024, Slavia Prague secured the signature of the full-back on a four-and-half-year deal. He scored his first goal for the club on his debut and has since become a starter in the Czech side, making 38 appearances in total, scoring eight goals.
He is a very attack-minded young full-back and is capable of progressing up through the pitch with ease. This is shown in Diouf’s stats as he scored seven goals and picked up four assists last season from left-back. The 20-year-old is also very fast and strong with and without the ball.
When the Slavia Prague President spoke to iDENES.cz he highly praised the youngster and recognised his importance to the Czech champions.
“Diouf is probably the best player who has been here in the last ten years, at least with potential for the future. We are aware of his quality, and we are determined not to sell him for a lower amount than we said.
“We have a clear idea. If the interested party does not meet it, Malick will play in the Czech League and the Champions League for Slavia in autumn.”
Despite his qualities going forward, Diouf does lack certain defending skills, and this is likely due to him being a raw talent. He can get caught out of position due to being so attacking, so his defence positioning would need working on. However, being only 20 years old he has time to improve, and there’s no doubting how far he could go in football.
The Senegalese international has been capped by his country. He has made four appearances most notably impressing in his country’s 3-1 win over England in June this year.
If Diouf were to sign it would put doubt over Emerson’s place in the squad. This is clear to see already as the Italian has been linked with moves away from West Ham this summer.
It would leave West Ham with only 19-year-old Ollie Scarles and Diouf if he joins. So, two players with not nearly as much experience as Emerson, but it would help bring down the age of the West Ham squad which Graham Potter is actively looking to do.
Club President, Tvrdík, mentioned that they had rejected two offers from Crystal Palace in the January transfer window and said that the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool had shown an interest.
There are others clubs seemingly interested so West Ham will need to sort a deal quickly if they don’t want to run the risk of being hijacked.
