Slavia Prague president Jaroslav Tvrdik has contradicted reports that West Ham have agreed a deal to sign El Hadji Malick Diouf.
Speaking to iDNES.cz, Tvrdik confirmed that the Hammers have submitted two separate bids for the Senegalese international but neither matched the club’s asking price:
“There was a misunderstanding. There was talk of an offer that we were supposed to reject, but that information is false. There were two offers on the table, but neither of them exceeded 20 million euros [£17m] in the basic transfer price.
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“Meanwhile, we have been saying for a long time that the price for Diouf will be over 20 million. And we do not have such an offer yet.”
West Ham are still in talks
According to reliable sources, there is a good chance that the Irons will return with a third offer for Diouf over the coming days.
The London club are keen to reinforce the left-hand side of defence, following the departure of Aaron Cresswell and the likely sale of Emerson Palmieri.
Diouf’s ability to play as a wingback could come in useful as well, with head coach Graham Potter having regularly deployed a three-at-the-back system last season.
Diouf does have other suitors
During the January transfer window, Tvrdik mentioned that he rejected two offers from Crystal Palace, while he said that Liverpool and Chelsea had also registered their interest.
Since then, the likes of Leeds, Brighton and Atalanta have been mentioned as other possible destinations. For that reason, West Ham need to be very careful that they don’t take too long in negotiating a deal for Diouf, otherwise there is a serious danger that another club could swoop in and hijack the transfer.
In other news, West Ham are said to be “expecting a bigger bid from Chelsea” for a forward, having already rejected a £50m proposal from another team