As things stand, West Ham are apparently negotiating to try and bring three players to London Stadium: Felipe Anderson, Javier Pastore and Issa Diop.
The latter of the three, a 21-year-old centre-back from Toulouse, appears to be the closest to being completed, with negotiations seemingly fairly straightforward.
Speaking to ABC Sevilla, the Ligue 1 side’s president, Olivier Sadran, explained what was required to get his star defender, also ruling out one of the suitors along the way.
He said: “I know Sevilla want him, but we have yet to receive an official offer from them. Other offers? I don’t want to talk about him to not hinder the ongoing talks. We only need to wait a bit more. I think it’s impossible for Sevilla to sign Diop. I’m asking for €25m. Will Sevilla pay that?”
This is where West Ham are laughing, as it seems the Hammers aren’t penny pinching this summer, wanting to give Manuel Pellegrini the best possible tools to start off his reign at London Stadium.
The 21-year-old is set to leave the south of France this summer after three years in the first-team, captaining his side last year, appearing 34 times in the league and managing to score three goals and picking up an assist along the way.
Toulouse barely managed to stay up in Ligue 1 last year, having to go beat promotion hopefuls Ajaccio in the playoffs.
This comes on the same day as Manuel Lonjon’s report that the player and his agents are currently in London, with a medical on its way.
