A couple of days ago [Claret and Hugh](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-itk-drops-new-name-into-transfer-mix/) reported on the Hammers’ link with a new young Senegalse defender who actually took part in the defeat of England earlier this month. Slavia Prague defender **El-Hadji Malick Diouf** was named as the 20 year-old left back who had been the subject of some pretty exhaustive scouting by West Ham’s recruitment team.
In fact this is not the first time a Premier League club has shown interest in the talented youngster described by the _mirror.co.uk_ in January as “_sure to be one of the hottest young talents on the market”._
Crystal Palace were so impressed they opened negotiations to buy him from Slavia Prague back in January 2025. Maybe because The Czechs themselves only paid £2.1 million for him under a year earlier, Crystal Palace refused to meet the £20 million valuation and stopped bidding at £12.5 million – as the [standard.co.uk](https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/crystal-palace-transfer-news-diouf-slavia-prague-b1203099.html) put it in January:
“_Crystal Palace expected to give up on El Hadji Malick Diouf deal after £12.5m bid fails”._
So quite whether West Ham are expecting to do any better with a bid later this summer is unknown. Unlikely the Hammers’ budget will be any bigger than that of their South London neighbours so unless Slavia Prague suddenly find themselves short of a few million Koruna it would see unlikely that the Hammers will succeed in any attempt to bring Diouf to London for less than £20 million.
And there are better buys lurking at that sort of level.