It is hardly surprising, but West Ham United’s Issa Diop became the subject of interest over the weekend.
Manchester United are thought to be keen on our impressive centre-back and are thought to be prepared to double the £22million (BBC) we paid for him last season by offering us £45m to sort out their own defensive issues, according to Sky Sports.
It is suggested that we won’t be tempted to cash in on him after just one year, although if they offer around £60m, we may listen to what they have to say.
Now, we may not need to say it, but nonetheless, we will – we cannot sell the Frenchman this summer! It would only be a disaster and one step backwards.
Diop has been nothing but a revelation for us in the centre of the defence and has considerably improved us in the 12 months he has been a Hammer.
Just looking at his defensive statistics (via WhoScored) go a long way to emphasising how important he has been to us. In his 33 Premier League appearances, the 22-year-old managed an average of 2.1 tackles per game and an average of 1.9 interceptions per match as he snuffed out the danger in the final third.
A key member of the squad, the centre-back is definitely one member of the team we should be looking to build our squad around in the future and not one we should be looking to make a huge profit on in such a relatively short time.
With all the ambitious transfer targets that Manuel Pellegrini and Mario Husillos appear to have this summer – the likes of Ozan Kabak, Maxi Gomez, Joan Jordan and the arrival of Pablo Fornals already – Diop is of the same quality and someone who could be worth plenty more than what Manchester United may be prepared to offer us in the future.
