West Ham dealt blow in Boulaye Dia pursuit | OneFootball

West Ham United have been dealt a major blow in their bid to bring Boulaye Dia to the London Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by French media outlet Le10 Sport, who claimed that, following intense talks with the Reims centre-forward, West Ham narrowly missed out on the signing of the 24-year-old, who now looks set to join Spanish side Villarreal CF in a €12m (£10m) deal.

It had been reported that the Senegal international was a key target for David Moyes in the summer transfer window, with the Scot desperate to bring in additions to his West Ham attacking arsenal after the January sale of Sebastien Haller left the 58-year-old with only Michail Antonio as an out-and-out striker in his first-team squad.

However, after missing out on Dia, who is believed to have signed a five-year deal with the Europa League winners, Moyes will now have to look elsewhere in his search for a new forward in the summer transfer window.

Is missing out on Dia a blow for West Ham?

Yes

Vote

No

Vote

Fans will be gutted

With a new signing in attack very much a priority for West Ham this summer, and Dia impressing for Reims last season, reports that the centre-forward looks set to join Villarreal are sure to have left Hammers fans gutted.

Indeed, over his 36 Ligue 1 appearances for Oscar Garcia’s side last term, the £12.6m-rated marksman scored 14 goals, registered one assist and created two big chances for his teammates, along with averaging 1.8 shots and 0.8 key passes per game.

These returns saw the £17,000-per-week hitman earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.96, ranking him as his club’s second-best performer in Ligue 1 as he played a key role in his team comfortably securing survival in the division.

1 of 10

Can you name all 10 ex-Hammers? First up... He assisted the first goal at the London Stadium but made only 8 appearances for the Irons, who is he?

Havard Nordtveit

Gokhan Tore

Pedro Obiang

Jonathan Calleri

As such, it would indeed appear that Dia would have been a highly astute addition to Moyes’ attacking options ahead of next season, especially for the relatively cheap £10m fee that the striker is believed to have cost Villarreal.

However, with a move for the 24-year-old very much seeming dead in the water, the Scot must now focus on other centre-forward targets, something which will undoubtedly frustrate the Hammers boss.

In other news: GSB enter into negotiations for “phenomenal” £25m dynamo, West Ham fans surely buzzing