How an ice cube wrecked Barcelona career for West Ham striker target Keita Balde Diao

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West Ham United have reportedly had a record bid for Lazio striker Keita Balde Diao accepted.

The Hammers have agreed a club record fee of around £27.5m – potentially rising to more than £30m – for the Senegal striker according to media speculation.

Reports from Goal in Italy claim a deal between the Hammers and Lazio has been agreed and the decision now rests with the 22-year-old, who scored 16 goals as one of the surprise packages of Serie A last season.

According to the report, West Ham have come to an agreement with Lazio president Claudio Lotito with just some finer details over the way the transfer payment is structured to be ironed out.

Keita Balde Diao in action for Lazio

Spanish-born Balde chose to represent Senegal internationally and would join compatriots Diafra Sakho and Cheikhou Kouyate in East London.

If Balde does arrive he will have followed a similar path to Hammers midfield star and Spaniard Pedro Obiang, who was born in Spain but moved to play in Italy before his big transfer to the Premier League.

And the player comes with a fascinating back story which involves… an ice cube.

Born in Catalonia, to Senegalese parents, Keita emerged from the world famous Barcelona academy La Masia and travelled to Qatar for a youth tournament in 2010.

While there, the 15-year-old is said to have played a practical joke on one of his teammates by placing an ice-cube in his bed.

Pretty tame stuff for a young teenager one might think.

Lazio’s Balde Diao Keita reacts

But Barca took it very seriously and as a punishment they sent Keita on loan to satellite club Cornella, despite his burgeoning reputation as a potential future star.

The loan deal gave the satellite side a portion of Keita’s rights, so when he hit a magnificent 47 goals in a single season it turned heads.

Barca wanted to take him back but Keita turned down the chance to return and eventually moved to Lazio despite attracting interest from the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid.