The 'insulting' offer Brentford made to West Ham for El Hadji Malick Diouf revealed
Brentford will have to do a lot better if they intend to sign El Hadji Malick Diouf from West Ham United this summer.
The Bees last week had an offer knocked back for the full-back for what was at the time described as an undisclosed fee.
Diouf caught the eye for West Ham last season, even if the Hammers did end up suffering Premier League relegation.
He made 34 appearances in total under Graham Potter and then Nuno Espirito Santo.
As West Ham Zone covered at the time of Brentford's offer, West Ham do not consider Diouf for sale at any price.
And it turns out Brentford were not even close with their opening offer for the Senegal international if fresh reports are anything to go by.
Brentford bid for El Hadji Malick Diouf not even close
West Ham took a slight risk in signing the relatively unknown Diouf from Slavia Prague a year ago.
The 21-year-old had just 50 career appearances to his name at Tromso and then Slavia.
The Hammers paid £19million, with that proving to be money well spent all things considered.
As per The 4th Official, Brentford's bid for Diouf was below that sum at somewhere between £15m to £18m.
It is described as an "almost insulting" offer, which is entirely understandable considering Diouf has only got better.
If Brentford have any sense, they will not bother stepping forward with a second offer unless it is considerably higher.
West Ham's selling stance surely now clear
Any team that suffers relegation from the Premier League needs to cut costs accordingly.
That was no different for West Ham this summer.
Thankfully, the sales of Crysencio Summerville and Mateus Fernandes to Al Hilal and Tottenham respectively helped raise around £150m.
That is a staggering amount for two players who were about to otherwise embark on a Championship campaign.
It means that players like Diouf - hailed a "machine" by Axel Disasi last season - and Jarrod Bowen do not need to be sold.
That is not to say there will not be any more outgoing business at the London Stadium, but Nuno's men are certainly a lot more comfortable now than they were a month ago.