Credit: Imago/Premier League on X

James Barker

Fri 27 March 2026 11:40, UK

El Hadji Malick Diouf is already among the Premier League’s best in his position, as the West Ham United star leads the league for assists among left-sided defenders.

Signed from Slavia Prague in this season’s summer transfer window for a reported initial fee of around £19million, West Ham certainly seem to have hit the jackpot with Diouf.

The 21-year-old has taken to life in the Premier League in very impressive fashion, and has now firmly established himself in Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting XI.

He’s been crucial to keeping West Ham alive in their relegation battle over the last few weeks, with excellent showings against the likes of Man City, Fulham and Bournemouth respectively.

So, with West Ham’s relegation run-in ahead, the Hammers are going to need their star defender to keep commanding their left flank the way he’s been doing so over recent games.

Why El Hadji Malick Diouf stands above Premier League rivals

Diouf has spoken of his ambition to play for a top club, and given what we’ve seen from him this season, that will likely soon become a reality.

Capable of playing anywhere down the left flank, the Senegalese international has been an integral part of West Ham’s attacking threat this term.

But, he’s not just been one of West Ham’s top attacking outlets this season, in fact, there haven’t been any better than him in is position in one key area: assists.

As detailed by Sofascore, Diouf leads the Premier League among left-sided defenders for assists this season with five.

Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne and Burnley’s Quilindschy Hartman are his closest rivals with four each, and behind those you can find the likes of Patrick Dorgu (three), Nico O’Reilly (three) and Marc Cucurella (three) respectively.

To be leading the Premier League in this department, in not only his debut season as a 21-year-old but also in a bottom-three team, is absolutely superb.

West Ham have no hope of keeping Diouf if relegated

Of the many regrets a relegation to the Championship would bring West Ham, the likelihood of losing Diouf this summer would be right among the very biggest of them.

The youngster has already shown the immense potential he’s got at the London Stadium this term, and therefore, he’d surely be snapped up swiftly by a top club this summer.

However, if West Ham can stay up, he may feel inclined to remain with the Hammers for a little while longer, as he knows he’s guaranteed games here and that will only further his progression as a player.

Making a big move too soon can have the reverse effect on a young player, and stump their progress if they don’t carve out a sizeable role from the off, but West Ham and Diouf would probably have little other option than to part ways this summer if they go down.

So, whilst that would mean waving goodbye to potentially a generational West Ham talent at that position, the silver lining would be that the Hammers would no doubt turn a massive profit on him that could fund a complete rebuild.