Reports in Italy are already beginning to suggest that Salernitana will look to move striker Boulaye Dia on after his refusal to come on as a substitute during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Udinese in Serie A.
Coach Fabio Liverani told the press during his post-match media duties that Dia made a ‘definitive choice’ when he was asked to enter the fray with seven or eight minutes left on the clock against Udinese.
Liverani added that Dia is “a player I can’t count on,” as a result of Saturday’s debacle.
This is not the first time this season there has been controversy between Dia and his employers.
The 27-year-old was approached by Premier League side Wolves towards the end of the summer, but the Midlands club approached the player directly without adequate communication with Salernitana, according to reports.
At the beginning of September, Dia was selected for international duty with Senegal, but he failed to report back to Salernitana on time, causing yet another rift with the club.
Those incidents led to Dia being excluded for three consecutive Serie A matches, but he eventually returned to the squad at the end of September.
According to information from Calciomercato.com, Dia had a release clause in his contract that was valid up until January 15. The cost to release him from his Salernitana contract reportedly stood at €17.5m.
There had been some interest from Fiorentina, before they settled on a loan deal with Roma for Andrea Belotti.
Spartak Moscow were one of the other interested parties in January, but ultimately, nobody opted to take a punt mid-way through the season, largely due to Dia’s injury record in the first half of the 2023-24 campaign.
Dia’s current contract runs until the summer of 2026, but as reported by Calciomercato and other Italian outlets, an exit in the summer is now more likely than it ever has been.
Of the aforementioned clubs, Wolves could still be interested in the coming months according to Calciomercato’s report.
#Salernitana, scoppia il caso #Dia: i possibili risvolti sul #mercato dopo il #rifiuto di scendere in campo https://t.co/rTwPbJ0VyY pic.twitter.com/IpBZjSScdg
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) March 2, 2024
Such arrogance from an average employee.