Diafra Sakho’s West Ham career promised much but delivered little with a return to France now likely.
Diafra Sakho could hardly have made a better start to life at West Ham. Arriving as something of an unknown after scoring goals for fun in the French second tier with Metz, the Senegalese striker scored in his first six games for The Hammers.
In the two-and-a-bit seasons since that 10-goal debut season, however, Sakho has netted just six times in the Premier League. Though that is largely down to a series of unfortunate injuries rather than a drop in form. He played just four games last season.
And, according to The Standard, a promising West Ham career is now likely to be cut short with Sakho poised to return to France with Ligue 1 club Rennes in a deal worth £9 million. Nothing has been agreed yet between the two clubs but it is understood that Sakho travelled to France on Wednesday to discuss a move.
Rennes finished a respectable 9th in France’s top flight last season but have endured a slow start to the new campaign. They are yet to win in four league games and have found the net on just six occasions.
However, Sakho’s arrival will be very well received, the 27-year-old set to link up with his former West Ham team-mate Morgan Amalfitano at Roazhon Park.
Sakho has returned to full fitness at the start of this season and offered a reminder of his predatory instincts with a coolly taken finish in a 2-0 EFL Cup win against Cheltenham Town last week.
However, following the arrival of Javier Hernandez from Bayer Leverkusen, he has fallen further down the pecking order. Yet, £9 million would represent an impressive profit given West Ham paid just £3.5 million to sign Sakho in 2014 (The Guardian).
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