Boulaye Dia has been repeatedly and heavily linked with a move to West Ham over the past week, with the Hammers looking for a replacement for Sébastien Haller, who they sold to Ajax.
France’s RMC reported this week that ‘negotiations are underway between the two clubs via the intermediary Willie McKay, mandated for this deal’.
McKay has worked with West Ham on transfers previously, so the link suggested there’s something genuine in this one. Dia himself has spoken about a move in recent days, sitting on the fence and saying it could happen… or he could stay where is at Reims.
Reims themselves are thought to be open to a sale, looking to bring in funds during the Covid-19 crisis. Like all Ligue 1 clubs they’ve been financially hit in recent months, with the French saga over TV rights another issue they’ve had to face.
Now, France’s But Football Club say Reims don’t ‘have a knife to their throat’ over selling Dia this month, because they’ve just won a case against the football governing bodies in France.
Relegated in 2016, Reims saw SC Bastia take their place, despite the latter having financial problems which should have barred them from promotion. Reims took the case further and have just been award a €4.78m payment from the FFF.
That gives them some breathing space, but it’s obviously not close to what they could expect to get from West Ham for Dia.
