Where Will Diafra Sakho Go?
We brought you news last week that Diafra Sakho had handed in a transfer request in an attempt to force a move away from West Ham and find regular first team football.
One season ago the idea that Sakho would be leaving to go to a fellow Premier League club would have been a disaster. In his first season at the club Sakho proved to be a great value acquisition, joining for around £4m and scoring 12 goals in 26 appearances under Sam Allardyce.
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But, under Slaven Bilic, he often found himself deployed as the second striker behind Andy Carroll or playing more with the ball outside the box rather than on the end of direct play sniffing out the chances. Sliding from his previous season’s stats, under Bilic he only managed five goals in 23 games.
Whilst this change in style has led to many lauding Bilic and the creativity of players such as Lanzini and Payet, Sakho has not been able to adjust as freely. Whilst Carroll came into his own towards the end of the season, imposing himself on defenders as we camped around the box Sakho found the space we had made on the counter last year gone and his pace not the weapon it had been.
Having joined the Premier League under Sam Allardyce many have suggested he’ll rejoin him up at Sunderland. This makes a lot of sense, but seeing as he’s leaving West Ham because he’s not the No.1 striker I think it’s foolish to assume he’d be happy sitting behind Jermain Defoe, who would surely be above the Senegalese striker in the Sunderland pecking order.
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West Brom is another potential Premier League destination for Sakho, as West Brom look to push want away stroppy striker Berahino out the door. In fact there have been a few articles linking us with a Berahino-Sakho swap deal – apparently this has been ruled out due to the boards belief that the young Englishman does not have the temperament to succeed at the business end of the Premier League.
The one sticking point any deal for Sakho seems to be the fee. Whilst both Sunderland and West Brom are interested and value Sakho fairly highly, his injury record does mean that they are currently reluctant to meet West Ham’s valuation of circa £15m; instead offering a smaller upfront fee and performance and appearance related add-ons.
It is looking more and more likely that both Valencia and Sakho will leave the club, but all members of the board have reiterated their desire to make sure their valuations for all outgoing players are met.