El Hadji Malick Diouf: West Ham sign Slavia Prague left-back in £19million deal | OneFootball

Hammers confirm first new signing of the summer

Diouf arrives from a club where West Ham have bought before. They purchased the now-departed right-back Vladimir Coufal from the Czech club, and they also signed box-to-box midfielder Tomas Soucek from Slavia.

Now, Diouf becomes the third player to make the move from the Czech capital to east London.

Vladimir Labant, the former Slovakian left-back, also moved to West Ham from a Prague club - but he joined from Sparta. He had previously played for Slavia before making the switch across the city.

Diouf, 20, has signed a long-term contract at the London Stadium and will wear the No12 shirt.

“I’m really happy to be here and to make a progression for my career,” Diouf told the club’s media.

“I’m looking forward to working hard and joining my new team-mates.

“There were a lot of teams [who wanted to sign me], but I chose West Ham United first and I spoke with the coach [Graham Potter] and it was a good plan for me.

“Everyone wants to come here to play in the Premier League. I think it is a dream for everyone. When they are here, they want to make everything good. I think they also have the personality to play here and if you are young, you want to continue your progression.

“If you are young, you have to keep your personality. It’s about the team. The most important thing is the team, not the player. I want to say to the West Ham supporters I’m very happy to be here with them. I think we’ll make a very good season this year.”

Manager Graham Potter said of the left-back: “We are very pleased to welcome El Hadji Malick to West Ham United.

“He is a young player we have been watching for some time, and somebody that we believe can be a really good fit for what we are trying to build at the club.

“He has shown tremendous strength of character and maturity at such a young age - leaving his home in Senegal to move to Norway at 18, and then moving on to Prague - and his performances have been at a consistently high level for some time now.

“He has made some terrific progress so far with his clubs and with the Senegal national team, and we are looking forward to welcoming him into the squad and working with him to continue that progress.

“The Premier League will be a big challenge for El Hadji Malick, but I can tell that he is really excited by it and determined to make a good impact at the club and on our supporters. He is young, hungry and ambitious, and I think he will be a very positive addition to the group.”