Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United have missed their opportunity to sign Boulaye Dia via his release clause but could get the striker cheaper anyway.
That’s according to Corriere dello Sport, who cover the player today, the expiry of his release clause and what may come next.
The newspaper explains that the deadline for enforcing Dia’s release clause in his deal with Salernitana expired on Friday and nobody came forward to offer the €22m figure.
Therefore, he will be remaining with the Italian team for the time being, with that deal expiring in 2026. That’s good news for the Italian side, who have never wanted to lose him and insisted they wanted €35-40m in the summer.
Some clubs were in the picture for him too, with Wolves making a late bid for his signature that was laughed off and rejected out of hand.
Now the situation has changed, though, the ruthless striker of last season has not been seen this year and that’s caused his value to drop significantly.
Salernitana now only need at least €17-18m to make a profit on the player, having paid €12m, plus another €1.8m for his initial loan at the club.
They also owe 20% to Villarreal if they sell for more than €15.6m, so the finances are tight. But the reality is, the striker is available for less than that €22m figure as his ‘value is starting to decline’.
That should interest Wolves, whose interest goes back to the summer, and West Ham, who have also been linked with a move this month.
David Moyes’ side are in desperate need of attacking reinforcements with injuries and Mohamed Kudus being at AFCON meaning they’re short on options.
That had seen Dia thrown into the mix of options West Ham may be looking at, but they seemingly didn’t consider it worth a move at €22m.
Now he’s available for slightly less that stance might have changed, with the opportunity there for them and Wolves should they want to take it.
