A “club insider” at West Ham United has denied reports that defender Issa Diop is looking to leave the London Stadium at the end of the season.
A story from TeamTalk suggested on Sunday that the Frenchman was unhappy with his current situation in East London, with Tottenham leading the charge to secure his services.
Last month, it was also reported that Arsenal were monitoring his progress, with the Metro suggesting that we have put a price tag of £60m on his head for any interested parties.
However, according to Claret & Hugh, an email was received from a senior Hammers’ official which has effectively rubbished any suggestions that Diop wants our of West Ham after the 2019/20 campaign concludes.
The former France U21 international was a club-record signing in the summer of 2018 from the Ligue 1 outfit Toulouse for £22m, toppling the £20m fee that was paid for Marko Arnautovic.
Should West Ham sell Issa Diop?
Yes
No
Diop was a favourite of the London Stadium faithful during his first campaign and was recognised for his quality and his contribution to games, earning himself a call-up to the France U21 squad.
However, pundit Danny Mills claimed that Diop has been a weak link for Manuel Pellegrini’s side before the Argentinian was eventually replaced by David Moyes.
Per WhoScored, he has made 23 Premier League appearances this season. On the face of it, his defensive contribution has been acceptable.
He has averaged one tackle per game, 1.7 interceptions, one foul – rather cancelling out the tackles – 5.3 clearances, and 0.8 blocks. He is dribbled past 0.3 times and has won 2.7 aerial duels per game.
At just 23, the criticism towards him has been harsh, considering that his record has been fairly good in perspective.
He is still young and is far away from his prime years. For me, he deserves another season to cement his place as a regular in the team and then he can be fairly judged.
