Issa Diop says new manager Marco Silva is a good match for him as the defender speaks on his move after leaving West Ham for Fulham.
It had been widely publicised for much of the summer that West Ham had an agreement in place to sell Diop to Fulham and that the player himself wanted to leave having become the club’s fourth and fifth choice centre-back.
The likes of L’Equipe claim a deal was agreed with the Cottagers some time ago but Hammers boss David Moyes – understandably – hit pause on the move following the pre-season injury to £30m new signing Nayef Aguerd.
The Moroccan left-sided centre-back looks set to be out for another 10 weeks.
And that had left Diop – who has never been able to establish himself in the West Ham side under Moyes – in limbo.
Diop was reportedly unhappy at West Ham’s stance as he was keen to kickstart his stuttering career with newly-promoted London rivals Fulham.
This week Diop got his wish as Fulham announced the signing for a fee believed to be around £15m.
His departure was under something of a cloud, though, after Moyes told the press Diop had ‘not put himself forward to play’ West Ham’s last two games against Man City and Lens (Football.London).
That did not go down well with West Ham fans, especially as Moyes only had one centre-back available against City.
Now the defender, famously labelled a “monster” by Jose Mourinho and once reportedly valued at £75m by the Hammers, has spoken about his decision to swap east for west London.
Diop says new manager Silva is a good match for him as the defender speaks on his move after leaving West Ham for Fulham.
“I’m very happy, very happy to join Fulham,” Diop told Fulham’s official website.
“I hope it is going to be a very good chapter of my career. Yea (it’s a relief) now it’s official (after the prolonged nature of the deal) so I’m happy. I just want to train with the team now and let’s work.
“Everything (about Fulham made me want to come here), the manager called me, the lads, the club, everything.
“We (Silva and I) were talking about football, how he sees football, how he wants to play, basically all around football. Yea, yea I think it’s going to be a good match because he’s a very good coach, I’m very happy and I really want to play for him.”
In Diop’s four seasons with West Ham following a £22.5m move from Toulouse, he made 121 appearances scoring eight goals.
His time with the Hammers was a very mixed bag. Some imperious early performances had a shadow cast over them by some disastrous displays – notably against the likes of Leeds and Kidderminster Harriers last season.
But for an overall transfer outlay of around £7.5m, Diop has been far from the worst investment West Ham have made over the years.
And Diop seemed to be a well-liked character in the West Ham squad who, until the weekend, had never had his professionalism questioned previously by Moyes.