Ex-Red Devil Diouf linked with move back to Premier League

Former Manchester United striker Mame Biram Diouf is being linked with a summer move to Premier League sides Cardiff City and Stoke City – who were both after him in January.

The Senegal international will be available on a free transfer in July and his likely destination is a return to England – or Wales. Ex-Red Devil front men heroes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (whose Cardiff side are 9/4 to beat the drop) and Mark Hughes (the Potters are 3/1 for a top 10 finish) are looking to take him to their clubs.

Solskjaer will know the player well, as he managed him in the Man Utd reserves for two years – although Diouf spent spells out on loan back to former club Molde and Blackburn Rovers during that time.

Diouf, 26, currently plays for Bundesliga outfit Hannover, where he has scored eight times in 19 league appearances this term. However, recent surgery to his shoulder is likely to see him sidelined for the rest of the season.

Since joining the Germans in 2012, he has managed to muster up 26 goals in 57 Bundesliga matches, and that tally is what has drawn the Premier League suitors back in.

Whilst prolific at previous side Molde in Norway, with 33 from 75 league games – which led to his transfer to United in 2009 – Diouf failed to deliver for Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford. He played in just five Premier League games, scoring a sole goal – an audacious 90th minute header in a 3-0 win over Burnley.

Hannover had been hoping to keep their man, but club chairman Martin Kind now seems resigned to losing him. “His agent has insisted we should not have any hopes on signing a new contract with Mame Biram Diouf, so that’s what we are going to do,” he said.