David Sullivan is being urged to act fast after a journalist revealed a message from a top West Ham target that will come as a devastating blow to Leeds.
West Ham have had their best news yet of the summer transfer window and it should crush the hopes of rivals Leeds United – but only if David Sullivan does his part.
Back in the big time, Leeds United have money to spend – £100m plus according to reports.
And the Elland Road outfit have been putting the Hammers to shame with their transfer business so far, making several signings while Graham Potter has been restricted to a watching brief.
Sullivan must act after message from top West Ham target
Leeds looked set to beat West Ham to Senegal star Habib Diarra until Sunderland swooped to blow both out of the water.
West Ham then switched attentions to Diarra’s Senegal teammate El Hadji Malick Diouf in an effort to finally break their summer transfer duck for Potter.
Slavia’s manager revealed Diouf was so close to joining West Ham he has been banned from training as the Czech club protects its asset.
The Hammers could not complete a deal until they had made a sale, though.
And sure enough it emerged that Leeds were now pushing to bring Diouf to Elland Road instead.
That sent Hammers fans into meltdown and piled the pressure on Sullivan and co to get their house in order for West Ham’s dealings.
There was what looked like a terrible development for both West Ham and Leeds this week, though, regarding the 20-year-old left-back.
Because Diouf appeared to drop a big hint he might be joining Monaco instead with his not-so-cryptic social media activity.
Potter target Diouf makes his wishes clear and it will crush Leeds
However, fans were given hope that the Diouf post may actually be a clue the Hammers or Leeds are on the verge of sensational double deal.
Now Sullivan must act after a journalist delivered a message from the top West Ham target that will crush Leeds.
But only if the Hammers’ billionaire majority owner and de facto director of football pulls his finger out as soon as possible.
‘Diouf gives West Ham the green light and new bid prepared’
Because Weekend Sports journalist Sébastien Vidal says Diouf has told West Ham he wants to move to the London Stadium.
Vidal says Diouf “powerful” and “Champions League level” Diouf has ‘given the green light’ because he wants to join West Ham.
Italian side Atalanta have also been linked with Diouf as well as Leeds.
Now it is over to Sullivan to get the deal done – and that in itself might give Leeds hope given West Ham’s apparent reluctance to improve on their latest £17.5m bid.
The good news for West Ham – and bad news for Leeds – is that Vidal has stated Sullivan is about to submit another offer and ‘Potter is pushing hard’.
This is the best news West Ham have had.
And now they have controversially sold Mohammed Kudus to Spurs for £54.5m – there is absolutely no excuse not to get the deal for Diouf done.
If Potter is pushing hard for the player and West Ham have the money then the board are risking the wrath of fans by not getting it over the line.
Diouf’s power and pace was on full display when he played a key role in Senegal’s 3-1 win over England recently.
The prospect of Diouf on the left and Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right is a mouthwatering one for the Hammers.
It would lift the entire mood around the club, which isn’t a problem at Leeds amid their spending push and return to the big time.