Contact made: Moyes can land the next Drogba as WHU make move for "explosive" £8m gem - opinion

West Ham United have made a move in a bid to bring Bamba Dieng to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

That’s according to a report by French media outlet RMC Sport (via the Daily Mail), who claim that both West Ham and Crystal Palace have made an approach to Olympique de Marseille regarding a deal to sign the centre-forward this month.

The report goes on to state that the Ligue 1 side are now in a position where they have to sell in order to balance their books, and could let the 21-year-old leave the club for a fee of just €10m (£8m) in the current market.

With a new centre-forward very much being a priority for David Moyes over the remainder of the January transfer window, the news that Dieng looks as if he will be available for such a small fee this winter is sure to have intrigued the 58-year-old Hammers manager.

And, it is clear to see why the Scot would be interested in a deal to sign the Senegal international this month, not only because West Ham’s only current senior centre-forward is Michail Antonio, but also because the 21-year-old is clearly a player who boasts a remarkable amount of potential for the future.

Indeed, over his 14 Ligue 1 outings this season – only seven of which have come as starts – the £7.2m-rated hitman has already scored four goals and created one big chance for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.5 shots per game and finding the back of the net every 136 minutes of football played.

These returns have led to the player who Jorge Sampaoli dubbed “explosive” receiving some extremely high praise, none less so than from El Hadji Diouf, who stated of Dieng: “He’s a striker, a Didier Drogba. All he can do is score goals. He is a young person with a future. All I