West Ham have reportedly been ‘offered’ the services of Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz, who has been made available for transfer in January.
Having emerged as a surprise target for the Hammers last week, Spanish outlet Corriere Dello Sport have gone one step further in suggesting the 27-year-old has been offered to the east Londoners.
Diaz is under contract at the Bernabeu until 2023 and West Ham are unlikely to be keen on spending a big transfer fee, so a loan move has been mooted as the most probable outcome.
David Moyes will almost certainly be on the lookout for additional striking reinforcements when the window reopens in January, despite Sebastien Haller’s return to goalscoring form on Sunday.
As such, Corriere Dello Sport claimed that Diaz is a ‘solution’ for the Irons and a deal could be done in the near future as Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane looks at other options in his star-studded squad.
The Spanish-born forward was involved at the weekend for Los Blancos as he played 85 minutes and got on the scoresheet in the reigning La Liga champions’ 1-1 draw with Villareal. However, Diaz has struggled to recapture the form he showed with Lyon in 2017/18 at any point during his career in Madrid, with whom he won the Champions League three years ago.
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Diaz certainly represents a viable option to the West Ham squad, especially on a loan deal until the end of the current campaign.
A loan without an obligation to buy leaves the club holding the all the aces, should he be a hit in the Premier League, to which some strikers find it notoriously difficult to adapt. In that event, the Hammers could then seek to make the deal permanent.
However, should he not prove a success in east London, he could simply head back to the Spanish capital and all parties can attempt to find another solution.
Given Michail Antonio’s injury history and the inconsistency of Haller, Moyes may be desperate to rectify his striking limitations, with Bournemouth’s Josh King also believed to be high on his list of targets.
