West Ham have been battling to find consistency under the guidance of Manuel Pellegrini and have so far found things difficult.
The Hammers were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Huddersfield Town at the weekend, leaving Pellegrini’s side in the bottom half of the Premier League table heading into November’s international break.
With a crucial run of fixtures around the corner in the build-up to Christmas, West Ham need to find immediate improvements if they are to climb the standings between now and the end of the campaign.
However, it is not all doom and gloom in East London as the Hammers can take a number of positives from their season so far – one of which has been the excellent performances of Issa Diop.
Signed in the summer, and standing as West Ham’s second-most expensive player of all-time, the defender has caught the eye in the heart of the defence and his fine displays have been rewarded with a call-up to France’s U21 squad.
The 21-year-old is uncapped at senior level for Les Bleus but will be handed a fresh opportunity to court the attention of Didier Deschamps in friendly clashes with Spain and Croatia.
We have gathered some of the best reactions to Diop’s international call-up below.
Good luck… top player!
— Geoff Mitchell (@BladeGm) November 12, 2018
Should be in the first team
— ⚒️{conrad}⚒️ (@bigrads92) November 12, 2018
This guy is special.
— Tack Hammer (@tack_hammer) November 13, 2018
That it? Wheres the senior call up lol
— Billy Watson (@Wa44828725Billy) November 13, 2018
should have been the First team..
— Lee E Gilpin (@GilpinLee) November 12, 2018
Good enough to be in the France first team
— (@brxdyyyy) November 12, 2018