Exclusive: West Ham plot move for Sheffield United star to replace Diouf | OneFootball

West Ham are eyeing a move to sign Sheffield United's Harrison Burrows amid El Hadji Malick Diouf's potential exit, Football League World understands

West Ham are poised to undertake an extremely busy summer transfer window in terms of mass incomings and outgoings at the London Stadium ahead of stiff rebuilding processes following relegation from the Premier League, and as developments on both fronts accelerate in the coming weeks, Football League World can exclusively reveal a contingency plan involving a potential raid of 2026/27 Championship rivals Sheffield United.

The Hammers' 14-year stay in the Premier League proved an eventful one, and continental honours were even brought to this side of East London as recently as 20223 when David Moyes masterminded a historic UEFA Europa Conference League-winning campaign, but a sharp decline has set in and the club will now be bracing to play Championship football for the first time since 2012.

A series of recruitment mishaps, evident misalignment at boardroom level and a frequent managerial turnover with little discernible policy culminated in a nightmareish season for West Ham, who, despite having been among the higher spenders in recent Premier League terms, ultimately suffered relegation on the final day alongside Burnley and Wolves after Tottenham Hotspur's slender victory over Everton cancelled out a 3-0 trouncing of Leeds United at the London Stadium.

With ex-Wolves and Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo now continuing in his post, though, West Ham are already being tipped among the favourites to go all the way and make a swift return to the big time as champions.

Wholesale change awaits the Hammers throughout the coming weeks and months, and it's hard to call exactly how their shock second-tier return will play out quite just yet, but their promotion efforts could be boosted if they can lure a prised asset away from Chris Wilder's side this summer.

West Ham eyeing Sheffield United, Harrison Burrows transfer raid to replace El Hadji Malick Diouf

A lot of the talk in the immediate aftermath of West Ham's relegation from the Premier League has pertained to an impending influx of departures, with the likes of £80 million-rated Mateus Fernandes, talented winger Crysencio Summerville and long-serving talisman Jarrod Bowen just three names to have been linked with a move away from the club.

Nuno will understand, then, that replacements and reinforcements will be required across the pitch once the transfer window commences as part of a significant squad rebuilding process, and further transfer talk involving the exit door has seen the Portuguese boss set his sights on a potential deal with Sheffield United.

As such, Football League World understands that West Ham are plotting a move to sign Harrison Burrows ahead of the window, with the Blades' left-back viewed by key decision-makers in E20 as an ideal replacement for El Hadji Malick Diouf in the event of his expected departure.

The 21-year-old Senegalese defender only joined the club last summer in a £19 million deal from Slavia Prague, but caught the eye under Nuno in spite of relegation to the second-tier and is being eyed up by Manchester United in an effort to strengthen competition for Luke Shaw.

Burrows, then, has emerged as a player of interest to West Ham as they seek to build a squad capable of winning promotion at the very first time of asking - akin to their immediate route back to the Premier League under Sam Allardyce in the 2011/12 campaign.

The ex-Peterborough United starlet has been among the top-performing left-backs at Championship level over the last two seasons after moving to Bramall Lane in the summer of 2024, having played an inspirational role in his side's run to the second-tier play-off final in his opening campaign with a haul of six goals and six assists apiece throughout league action - which is exactly why he's being lined up as a Diouf replacement.

Last season proved somewhat more difficult for the 24-year-old in a testing and underwhelming term for the Blades, who failed to bounce back from Wembley heartbreak and finished in 13th as Burrows tussled for a starting berth with Sam McCallum, though he still appeared in all but two of United's outings and started on 30 occasions while recording nine goal contributions from left-back.

The attack-minded full-back's signature could be won owing to the financial situation in the red-and-white quarters of the Steel City, with Wilder now poised to sanction high-profile sales in a bid to raise funds after falling drastically short of competing for promotion in the club's final season of receiving parachute payments, and West Ham will be looking to capitalise on the state of play to replace Diouf with an operator with undoubted quality and expertise at the top-end of the Championship.