West Ham United have made an enquiry about the possibility of signing Senegalese World Cup star Boulaye Dia from Serie A outfit Salernitana in the January transfer window.
According to a report by Italian media outlet Tutto Salernitana, West Ham United have expressed interest in a winter swoop for 26-year-old Salernitana striker Boulaye Dia and have an offer ready, as manager David Moyes looks for some extra attacking firepower in the new year to turn their season around.
The Senegal international joined Salernitana on loan from Villarreal in the summer and the Serie A outfit retains an option to buy him for €12 million, which the Italian club plans to exercise in advance as they look to make a quick buck come January.
They would want €20 million for their star striker, which the piece claims would be the record sale in Salernitana’s history, and it may be tough to turn down an offer of this scale despite the player’s flying start to the season for both club and country. The 26-year-old has made ten starts and four appearances off the bench in Serie A for Salernitana so far this campaign, scoring six goals and providing two assists in the process.
Dia has emerged as a standout player for his country, leading the line for Senegal, starting all four games, and scoring against Qatar en route to his side qualifying for the last 16, where they were defeated 3-0 by a dominant England side.
His impressive performances have alerted several clubs to his availability, with West Ham firmly in the mix to sign him. The Hammers are one of the suitors to snap him up, alongside fellow Premier League side Everton.
This is not the first time that West Ham have shown an interest in him. The Hammers were persistently linked with a move to sign the Senegalese hitman from Stade Reims throughout 2021, both in winter and summer windows, as Moyes looked to add some more quality competition and cover for Michail Antonio at the London Stadium with funds tight, but the interest was never concrete enough.
It is fair to say that the Irons need to score more goals. They are the third-lowest goal scorers in the Premier League, with only Wolves, Nottingham Forest, and Everton scoring fewer goals. With that in mind, more firepower could be required during the January transfer window.
Lively, with intelligent movement, decent in shots generation, and possessing a good finish, Dia has a very versatile skillset and would be an excellent acquisition as he could even partner alongside currently misfiring Gianluca Scamacca to form a shot-heavy strike force at the London Stadium.
He ranks in the top 8 percentile of forwards in Europe for non-penalty goals and has been consistently overperforming his expected goals (xG) over the last year or so, which is a good indicator of a top-notch finisher.
