Chelsea and Liverpool have set their sights on Brentford‘s El Hadji Malick Diouf and are likely to battle it out for his signature next year.

The Senegal international first arrived in England when West Ham United signed him from Slavia Prague in July 2025. Following the Hammers’ relegation to the Championship, he left them for Brentford towards the end of the summer window.

Diouf made seven appearances for Brentford, and that includes only one Premier League start so far. That isn’t stopping Chelsea and Liverpool from closely monitoring him.

Chelsea and Liverpool keen 

The 21-year-old has ended up on the Blues and the Merseyside club’s target list for next summer, and D Sports in Senegal cover the latest.

These two clubs are already showing interest in the Brentford summer signing. In fact, both Chelsea and Liverpool have already contacted the fullback’s agent to register their desire to secure his services.

There’s no mention of El Hadji Malick Diouf and/or Brentford’s stance on letting him leave, either in January or next summer.

He has a contract until 2031, with an option for another year. However, the report states that the player could ‘take on a new dimension sooner than expected’, meaning leave the Bees.

Transfermarkt value him at €35m, and Brentford paid around €47m to secure his services. Therefore, Chelsea and Liverpool will have to spend significantly more than this to acquire Diouf’s signature.

There’s a possibility his camp is leaking Chelsea and Liverpool’s approaches to put Keith Andrews under pressure to hand him more minutes.

Chelsea and Liverpool’s current options 

The west London club signed Pep Chavarría from Rayo Vallecano in the summer. He has been competing with Jorrel Hato for the left-back position.

Over at Anfield, Andoni Iraola has Milos Kerkez and Konstantinos Tsimikas as the two recognised left-backs. The Reds manager has also utilised youngster Luke Chambers once this season.

Tsimikas, 30, has a contract until the end of this season. If he leaves, the Brentford player can be an option for Liverpool next summer.