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West Ham should allow 22 y/o to leave amid barrage of rumours – opinion

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Recent times have seen a barrage of rumours appear in football media outlets across Europe connecting West Ham United centre-back Issa Diop with an exit.

The most recent speculation from France Football suggests that the club are hoping to secure an €84m (£75.2m) deal with Manchester United, the team poised to land his signature if the 22-year-old does leave.

However, the report also states that €65m (£58.2m) in reality is more likely to be the figure if the deal goes through. The idea of a player swapping Old Trafford for London Stadium as part of the transfer also appears to be on the table with the Hammers’ audacious suggestion of Anthony Martial being turned down.

Should a player be involved in a deal, it could well be a centre-back as a like-for-like replacement for the young French hotshot. And he would need proper replacing as a current first choice in east London.

However, as important Diop is to Manuel Pellegrini’s squad and his ambitions for the future, West Ham should allow the former Toulouse captain an exit to the Red Devils this summer transfer window.

Why? Well, price is one of the reasons with anything above £50m a sensational coup for someone who only has one season of Premier League experience under their belt, even in today’s inflated market.

What’s stopping Diop from becoming one of the many one-season wonders to have graced the English top flight? They all showed an incredible amount of ability and promise in their first terms.

The other thing that many members of the Claret & Blue Army aren’t considering as they demand the centre-half be retained is that he wasn’t even able to remain Pellegrini’s first choice for the whole of the campaign – falling out of favour after the return of Fabian Balbuena.

And what about some of the questionable displays he put in at various points in the campaign such as his own-goal debut at Arsenal? And underwhelming statistics including just 1.1 block per game and 1.9 interceptions per game in the Premier League?

Yes, it’s true, the France U21 international is far from the finished product at the moment and could well develop into one of the best central defenders to ever play in England when he reaches his prime.

But that amount of money and possibly a Man United pedigree star is way too much to turn down for the relatively unproven Diop and the East Londoners could wisely use the money to recruit a better centre-back currently in the prime years of their career.

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