West Ham have been dealt a transfer boost as midfield target Amadou Diawara has been given the green light to leave AS Roma, according to Roma Press [via HITC].
The Guinea international is understood to be a target for a number of Premier League clubs, including Arsenal and Leicester, with West Ham also named as a key suitor for Diawara’s signature.
In a further boost for the Hammers’ transfer ambitions, AS Roma have identified a number of potential replacements for Diawara, including Cagliari’s Nahitan Nandez and Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat.
The 23-year-old has been described as a traditional ‘number 6’, a team axis who operates in a hard-working box-to-box capacity, starting attacks in a deeper-lying role whilst also offering defensive cover.
Diawara was notably left on the bench for a sixth successive Serie A match during the weekend’s 2-2 draw with title contenders Inter Milan in a further indication that he is surplus to requirements in the Italian capital.
Lorenzo Pellegrini, Jordan Veretout and young midfielder Gonzalo Villar are all favoured ahead of the midfielder, with Diawara restricted to just 40 minutes of league action this season.
He is currently valued at £16.2 million by Transfermarkt and his contract expires in 2024, so any potential deal would likely be on Roma’s terms.
Read West Ham Verdict
Diawara seems to offer many qualities which would suit Moyes’ preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. The ‘2’ in that system requires a pair of hard-working defensive midfielders, but one issue is that existing options Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice seem unshakable from Moyes’ line-ups.
Were Rice to leave, Diawara could be an ideal affordable replacement, but a winter transfer may be premature and he could find himself lacking again in regular minutes.
