Among the horse riding fraternity there is a golden rule, if you fall off your horse, the first thing you do after having dusted yourself off is to get straight back on again, thus wiping out any fear you have of remounting while teaching the horse who is boss once and for all.
Having had an extremely poor 'Gallic' experience with 'Le lazy Sulk', AKA Sebastien Haller and prior to him 'Le Snake' AKA Dimitri Payet, the Hammers hierarchy will be more than wary of dipping their toes back in to the French market for players, however their previous recruitment was done without current manager David Moyes who has a much more hands on approach to transfers, the signings of Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal, Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma testify to that.
David Moyes has convinced the board that there are still good hard working young players available from acrosss the channel, and to that purpose he is actively pursuing a deal to bring 24 year old Boulaye Dia to the London Stadium from Stade Reims. Dia's agent, Frederic Guerra, suggested that West Ham have already made an approach to sign his client for a fee of around £10n Million rising to £14 Million.
The stumbling block for any deal involving the electric paced striker, who is in the final 18 months of his contract, is that club Reimes want to keep him, and they are able to offer Champions League football. The plusn points are that West Ham, despite being the Barclays Premier League's poorest members do have the funds to finance the deal, following the departure of Haller to Ajax for a £25 Million loss, and will move swiftly to get the deal over the line, possibly as soon as this evening .
Although Moyes currently has only the one established striker at his disposal, Michail Antonio with his temperamental hamstrings, Moyes will already have established his 'hit list' of potential recruits, he will also be aware of some of the U-23 and youth players who could feature in the FA Cup 3rd televised fixture against Stockport on Monday evening.
Josh King has been the bookies favourite to join West Ham due to the fact that his contract with Bournemouth expires in June, but it appears Moyes would prefer the more athletic Dia over the more ponderous King, that said they both look like greyhounds compared with the player they are being lined up to replace.
A front man who can actually run who isn't named Antonio? That'll be the Dia!- Ed
Comments
The FA Cup
Perhaps this is the year we should make a serious play to win the FA cup ? We are comfortable in the league - let ‘s play our first team each round and really go for it. Forty years is a long time to wait.
Agree West
We are in our best position for years in the prem coming into the new year,go for it in the Cup I say....40 years of hurt & all that
I Like It
I feel a cloud has lifted now that "Lazy Le Sulk" has departed...excuses and all.
Yes, I too look forward to a "Forward" that can... and actually wants to run (as strikers do).
Sakho was good for a bit also, but with Moyes involved there will probably be more due diligence and knowledge of the player that we will purchase this time around.
COYI
I feel this could go horribly
I feel this could go horribly wrong. Why buy another relatively unknown player. I hate the Jan window as everybody takes the piss with their prices. I'd take Josh King over this character at least he's proven in the prem..!!
I say beware of French agents
I say beware of French agents bearing gifts, im still of the opinion we were screwed over in regard to le lump and Anderson ,but why listen to me ? ,i know f a about the goings on in the multi million £ world of the transfer market ,although i do recognize the strong aromatic scent of rodent ,as to your analogy about re mounting a horse after a fall ,im afraid you would find it an impossible task if in falling you succumbed to a damaged vertebrae