West Ham, Leicester winning race for £22m star formerly on Arsenal radar

Amadou Diawara

West Ham United and Leicester City are in a footrace to sign midfielder Amadou Diawara from Roma, according to a report.

ForzaRoma says that the defensive midfielder was formerly a target of Arsenal but now the Hammers and the Foxes are the frontrunners in the race for his signature.

Arsenal’s interest in Diawara, 23, has cooled since a mooted swap deal involving Lucas Torreira failed to materialise. What’s more, the Gunners recently signed Thomas Partey to add mettle to their engine room.

The source adds that a January bid could be on the cards with Roma reportedly struggling financially.

Indeed, if a ‘concrete offer’ comes in then owners The Friedkin Group will consider it, although they are cautious not to weaken their side too greatly post-Christmas.

Diawara has had limited game time this season, making just one league start and missing a proportion of the campaign after testing positive for Covid-19.

As a result, the Guinea international has slipped down the pecking order at the Serie A club.

 

 

Roma paid Napoli €21million (£19million) for him in 2019, and do no want to receive anything less than €25million (£22million) should he move on.

It seems the club have lowered their asking price after previously setting the bar at £27million.

RomaPress reported that Diawara was unhappy with his situation at the Serie A outfit, hinting that he was mulling over pushing for an exit prior to the end of the transfer window.

Alas, the midfielder is still on the books of Roma for now.

West Ham eye up £30m forward

Meanwhile, West Ham are keeping tabs on Lyon striker Moussa Dembele.

The London club are reportedly keen on bringing the forward to England, albeit may have to pay around £30million to do so.

The former Celtic and Fulham striker, who netted 24 times in 46 games last campaign, is contracted to his current club until 2023.

However, Dembele has failed to score in any of his 11 Ligue 1 games so far and may have to be sold for a cut-price, should potential suitors come in.

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