Michail Antonio surely done at West Ham United as Boulaye Dia transfer news emerges
West Ham United are interested in signing Salernitana forward Boulaye Dia this summer which means Michail Antonio may now be surely finished at the London Stadium.
The Senegal international is on loan from Villarreal and has a permanent redemption clause of €12million [£10.5million], with the move expected to be a formality at the end of the season scoring 16 and assisted six more in a scintillating Serie A campaign.
Salernitana have been eyeing the possibility of immediately selling him on for a profit once they have signed him permanently, and could well be about to do so in this summer’s transfer market.
According to Gazzetta Dello Sport (print edition, pg 74, 1 June), Salernitana desperately want to keep Dia on a permanent basis next season but will face competition from West Ham United, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Roma.
It’s believed the 25-year-old wants to move to a Premier League side that plays European football, which puts the Hammers and Aston Villa on high alert for his services this summer and in strong positions.
West Ham United desperately need to shake things up during the summer transfer window to ensure the club is battling amongst the European places once again.
And one of the priority positions the Hammers will be looking at is at centre-forward and they won’t be short on funds too should club captain and star player Declan Rice complete his touted £100m+ move elsewhere.
Antonio looks set to leave the London Stadium this season, which means the club will be heavily in the market for a forward who possesses the same dynamism, frightening power and workhorse-like mentality and Dia is certainly built in a similar mould to the Jamaican international who is just seven years his senior.
Considering West Ham currently play in Europe and are a stable Premier League side, they could stand a good chance of landing Dia this summer.
The Africa Cup winner was a force to be reckoned with at Salernitana, racking up a remarkable 22 goal contributions (16 goals and six assists) in 33 appearances where his outstanding form was rewarded by receiving four man-of-the-match trophies for the Serie A outfit.
Dia is a striker always looking to produce moments of quality even if he’s not on the scoresheet – which is just like Antonio – having recorded 64 shot-creating actions last term [FBRef] which was the second-highest total throughout the whole of the Salernitana squad.
With Moyes preferring a striker with such hard-working, tenacious and aggressive-like tendencies, he may well have already located the perfect replacement for Antonio this summer, and the Jamaican international can surely leave the London Stadium in perfect hands.