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Nuno Espirito Santo can’t take all the blame for Sunday’s loss of two points after leading at Turf Moor. One look at the squad depth is enough to see that West Ham are already playing with a wafer-thin squad. Starting a match day with two former academy graduates making their league debuts was risky – but essential – and including five further youngsters on the bench is a pretty stark reminder of the paucity of depth. Josh Ajala, George Earthy, Airidas Golambeckis, Josh Landers and Ezra Mayers as options might offer youthful exuberance and energy but not first team solidity. So when today’s reports suggest another first team regular – and indeed West Ham’s only alternative to another youngster, Ollie Scarles, is on the point of being sold it is easy to predict the response of West Ham fans. Uproar? Possibly. The only possible reason for selling el Hadji Malick Diouf this late-on in the window would be to re-invest the resulting £35 million to cover a full rebuild of the missing 3 or 4 players – at the very least – which Sunday’s performance demands. News out of Senegal claims a deal is just about done between Brentford and West Ham: ‘El Hadji Malick Diouf, Brentford and West Ham close to an agreement After submitting a formal offer of about €41 million, with up to €5.9 million in bonuses, Brentford would now be very close to reaching an agreement with West Ham for El Hadji Malick Diouf. According to our information, the discussions between the two clubs have progressed significantly and an agreement is now imminent.’ (wiwisport) Without wishing to whip up fan responses, if that ‘Diouf to Brentford sale‘ story is true and comes to fruition, you’d surely expect supporters to be demanding that £35 million quid gets re-invested in the threadbare squad. And not next January. Now. But you tell me. Good business or further evidence of an exodus.