Having made a number of mistakes when it comes to buying strikers in the past, West Ham decided that while they desperately needed a goalscorer in January, they weren’t just going to buy anyone.
Selling Sébastien Haller to Ajax Amsterdam, the Hammers had some money to play with, but instead of spending it immediately, they took their time and assessed their options.
Youssef En-Nesyri appeared to be the number one target, but when Sevilla made it clear they weren’t interested in selling midway through the campaign, West Ham backed off.
Another option for them was Boulaye Dia, but the Mali international was deemed to be too inexperienced at the highest level to warrant a €15m expenditure despite his 12 goals in 23 league games since the start of the campaign, so they pulled out.
The forward remained at Stade de Reims, and will do so until the end of the campaign, but it seems unlikely that he’ll be there beyond that.
That’s because a number of teams are very interested in his situation, with Napoli, Milan and Marseille all previously mentioned as competition for West Ham, and Le10 Sport now state Eintracht Frankfurt have joined the race.
Reims know that with a contract running out in 2022, their best chance of selling Dia is in the next transfer window, and a fee of around €15m is mooted.
We’ll have to wait and see if West Ham do come back for him or once again focus their efforts on En-Nesyri, but one thing is certain if they do want Dia: there is going to be one hell of a competition.
