With Sébastien Haller now officially an Ajax player, all West Ham eyes will be turning to who will replace the striker for the rest of the season.
The Hammers have been linked with multiple options, and some of those claims will have far more behind them than others. On Thursday, we covered claims from Le10 Sport that the Premier League club have a new ‘hot track’ as an option.
That man is Boulaye Dia. The 24-year-old striker has played 16 matches for Reims in Ligue 1 so far this season, and found the back of the net 10 times.
Reims were presented as waiting for offers, so it doesn’t sound like they’d be totally against a sale. Whilst there’s also interest in France, the report doubted whether Ligue 1 clubs would be able to compete on either transfer fee or wages.
Well, it seems Le10 Sport had something of a scoop. Since their claims, Dia’s agent has spoken to Telefoot and confirmed talks with West Ham, although it’s not all good news.
Le10 Sport quote Frédéric Guerra as saying: “We talked a lot last month with West Ham. However, we have not moved forward. He is a player that interests them. After that, the question this winter is whether by choosing West Ham or another club, we do not exclude many other clubs this summer.
“With the Covid situation, offers are rare during the winter transfer window. We are among these questions. If it is better to leave now or this summer (…) Of course it is a security to accept West Ham this winter but it would also close the doors for this summer. Italian clubs are interested, in Spain, in Germany. To choose is to give up, so if we choose West Ham, we give up on others.”
That doesn’t exactly sound like an agent bursting with excitement to get his client to David Moyes’ side.
