West Ham United have reportedly been told to pay up to €25 million to sign PSG defender Abdou Diallo, who is open to a move away from Parc des Princes.
West Ham United are moving forward with a summer move to sign Paris Saint-Germain defender Abdou Diallo. That is according to a report from French outlet Foot Mercato, who claim that PSG could sell the 26-year-old to the Hammers for somewhere between €20-25 million.
West Ham United are looking to bolster their backline in the wake of Nayef Aguerd’s long-term injury and Issa Diop’s impending move to Fulham in a deal worth around £15 million after weeks of speculation about his future. Aguerd, who arrived from Rennes earlier this summer, is sidelined for up to ten weeks after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury he suffered in the pre-season defeat to Rangers.
Meanwhile, Angelo Obgonna is continuing his recovery after missing most of last season with an ACL injury but is still three or four weeks away from full fitness. That will leave David Moyes facing somewhat of a central defensive crisis at the London Stadium and has prompted West Ham to dip into the market once again to sign a new centre-back before the summer transfer window slams shut.
As such, it seems the Hammers have a couple of targets in mind, with PSG duo Thilo Kehrer and Abdou Diallo both on a shortlist drawn up by Moyes. The defensive duo are on PSG’s list of dispensable players, drawn up at the start of the summer transfer as they look to trim the squad in Christophe Galtier’s first season in charge.
While a move for Kehrer could prove to be tricky to get over the line for West Ham owing to his hefty salary at current, the English club could sign Diallo for up to €25 million this summer, with PSG looking to recoup a chunk of their investment in their prized defender.
An AS Monaco academy product, Diallo emerged as a real prospect with Mainz before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2018. After shining for Die Schwarzgelben for one season, PSG snapped him up for a reported fee in the region of €30 million in 2019. Since then, Diallo has been a valuable squad player for Les Parisiens, partly down to his versatility to feature as a left-back and a left-sided centre-back.
Diallo has made 75 appearances for the French giants, winning Ligue 1 and Coupe de France twice during his tenure. Contracted until the summer of 2024, PSG are more than willing to listen to offers for the Senegalese international, with Moyes said to be a big admirer of the defender, who would not be against the idea of leaving Paris in search of regular first-team football at West Ham.
Indeed, the 26-year-old would be a shrewd addition for West Ham for a €25 million fee. The Senegalese international is a versatile and intelligent ball-playing defender who excels at driving out from the back and is also very robust defensively. His profile would fit in very well in Moyes’s system. Whether West Ham will fork out the required sum to prise him away from PSG remains to be seen.
