**West Ham lose out on transfer target**
I can’t pretend to have known too much about Habib Diarra before the start of this [transfer](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-transfer-news/) window.
West Ham had been linked with a move for the Strasbourg midfielder, and after checking in with various ITKs, it became clear that Diarra was genuinely a player of interest. In fact, the very words used to describe him were “high on West Ham’s wish-list”, [as we wrote](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-face-leeds-battle-for-wing-wizard-but-rumours-of-bidding-war-denied/) on these very pages at the start of June.
I only labour the point to highlight that the Hammers were very much in for the young Senegalese star, who recently featured against England.
So to get beaten to his signature by newly promoted Sunderland is, frankly, embarrassing. Diarra’s €30m fee was exactly the figure quoted to us by a football agent at the time, who also added: “He’ll be a top player.”
Ordinarily, I don’t throw a hissy-fit over missing out on gossip column footballers I’ve never heard of. West Ham are linked with so many names that it’s impossible to take every rumour seriously.
But this one’s different.
We know we were in for Diarra—and we didn’t get the deal done. And that changes things.
At this point, talk of being skint, selling before buying, PSR, or even injecting funds feels irrelevant. Because despite all the noise, the evidence is stacking up: West Ham aren’t buying players—but our rivals are. And that’s a real worry.