David Moyes can form an unbeatable midfield unit at West Ham United with the January signing of AS Roma enforcer Amadou Diawara.

What’s the word?

According to Corriere dello Sport, Diawara sits atop Giallorossi CEO Tiago Pinto’s list of players deemed surplus to requirements by head coach Paulo Fonseca.

Pinto is tasked with securing mid-season moves for those no longer wanted at the Stadio Olimpico, where Fonseca’s side currently trail Serie A leaders AC Milan by seven points and have played an additional game compared to SSC Napoli and Juventus in the race for Champions League football.

Diawara has struggled to re-establish himself in the Roma line-up since testing positive for coronavirus, and is now seen as a player who can be sold this month in order to raise funds for the arrival of a new holding midfielder.

West Ham and Leicester City have previously been said to be monitoring Diawara’s situation with a view to signing the €62,500-per-week (£57k-p/w) brute in January, with both sides willing to meet Roma’s €20m (£18m) valuation.

Diawara has played just 19 minutes of Italian top-flight football since recovering from coronavirus in November, while serving as an unused substitute on five occasions after starting the first game of the season as Fonseca’s favoured deep-lying talent.

Ideal partner for Rice

West Ham stepping forward in the January window with an offer to sign Diawara could see the east London outfit acquire an ideal partner for Declan Rice, who is one of only three players to have featured for all 1,530 minutes of Premier League football under Moyes this term.

Diawara was a frequent fixture of Roma’s plans last season with starting roles in 19 of his 22 Serie A appearances, and proved a real defensive force with 1.8 successful tackles, 1.5 interceptions, 0.6 clearances and success in 3.4 duels, per SofaScore.

The 23-year-old has not been given the same chance to improve on those numbers under Fonseca this season, so will be desperate to prove himself to Roma if given the opportunity to make the grade somewhere else in the mid-season market.

West Ham having the option of pairing Rice with Diawara would also free Moyes to move Tomas Soucek into a more attack-focused role, with the Czech Republic international proving to be a true force at the London Stadium.

Moyes has struggled to settle on a central attacking midfielder this season with Said Benrahma, Mark Noble, Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals all fielded at some stage, yet Soucek ranks second among the Hammers squad for total shots (31), per WhoScored.

The 25-year-old has also won more aerial duels (98) than any of his teammates, any Moyes can use that expertise to improve West Ham’s long-range play while freeing his wide options.

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