West Ham & Leicester Interested in Roma Midfielder Amadou Diawara
By Ali Rampling
Roma midfielder Amadou Diawara is attracting interest from West Ham and Leicester, with the Premier League pair prepared to pay up to €20m for the 23-year-old.
Diawara moved to Roma from Napoli in 2019 in a €21m deal, but after featuring 22 times in Serie A for the Giallorossi last season, he has played just 193 minutes this term.
The Guinea international finds himself behind Jordan Veretout, Lorenzo Pellegrini, and Gonzalo Villar in the Roma pecking order - but his lack of first-team football is in part explained by the fact that he was forced to miss seven matches in October and November after testing positive for coronavirus.
According to Italian news outlet Calciomercato, Roma are keen to sign Cagliari midfielder Nahitan Nandez in January - but if they are to make a move for the Uruguay international, they will first have to sell Diawara.
West Ham and Leicester are two interested parties, and the pair would be 'ready' to pay up to €20m for the midfielder.
The Hammers have enjoyed a strong start to the season under David Moyes but are slightly light in central midfield, with 33-year-old Mark Noble the only really serious competition for Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice in the middle of the park - and the latter is frequently linked with a move away from the London Stadium.
Leicester currently have Wilfred Ndidi, Nampalys Mendy, and Hamza Choudhury on their books, but adding further squad depth seems logical given how the Foxes struggled during the congested Christmas period in 2019 and the heavy fixture schedule they now have due to the Europa League.
Diawara was linked with a move to the Premier League in the summer of 2020, with Leicester, alongside Tottenham and Newcastle, all said to have made an enquiry about the Roma man in July, while he was also mentioned as a target for Arsenal had the Gunners failed to land Thomas Partey.