According to an exclusive report from TEAMtalk, Issa Diop has asked to leave West Ham, with Tottenham allegedly leading the race for the Frenchman’s signature, and some Hammers fans reacted on Twitter to the speculation.
The 23-year-old joined the east London outfit from Toulouse in the summer of 2018 for around £22.5 million (The Mirror).
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When the Frenchman is on form, he is clearly a very important player for the east London outfit.
Issa Diop (Photo by Harriet Lander/Copa/Getty Images )
Sky Sports claimed earlier this week that Hammers boss David Moyes could be tempted to sell the former Toulouse man, however.
And now TEAMtalk claims that Diop has asked to leave West Ham, with Tottenham leading the race for his signature.
The Mirror have also suggested recently that the Hammers won’t consider selling the French centre-back for anything less than £45 million.
Stats
Diop has made 64 appearances for West Ham, racking up five goals in the process (Transfermarkt).
Issa Diop (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
In 23 Premier League games this season, Diop has racked up 24 tackles, 39 interceptions and 122 clearances. He has also won 64% of his individual duals and 74% of his aerial battles (premierleague.com).
£45 million plus would be a lot of money for someone who, in truth, is still a long way from being the finished article.
But West Ham will surely resist selling Diop to bitter rivals Tottenham…surely.
Some Hammers fans took to Twitter in reaction to the speculation…
Massive talent. Will no doubt go on to be a French international at some point, should build a defence around him.
— Tony 🏴🇮🇹⚒ (@TonyF147) April 3, 2020
Quality defender and quick. A threat at set pieces. Must stay.
— malcolm brown 🏴 (@malcolmrbrown53) April 3, 2020
Needed , he’s a ball playing cb that can actually defend and score goals ! Good player that can be really good
— Simeon (@levi_simeon) April 3, 2020
Keep, I don’t think people give him enough slack considering he is still so young
— Colinlb (@colinlb) April 3, 2020
i’d be fuming if we sold him especially to that mob. horrible
— Stephen George Lott (@stephenlott) April 6, 2020
I simply don’t trust the board or Moyes to reinvest it properly into improving the Squad!
We should be looking to build our team around the quality of Rice, Diop, Bowen & Haller, but we neglected doing so consistently under G&S!
Buy Salisu, Sarr & Sangaré it’d help change that— Steven McCarthy (@StevenMcCarthy9) April 5, 2020
No, he’s got real potential to be top drawer! Him, Rice, Bowen, Haller should be tied down and with 2 or 3 similar quality signings mixed with other promising players we have then we have a team! ⚒
— Andy Milbank (@AndyMilbank) April 5, 2020
I wouldn’t hes young & will still improve & that’s exactly what we need like I read on one of the replies let wilshere , Sanchez, zaba ,yarmo players like this need to be let go & bring in more young fit talent so we can have s strong squad..
— Peter Deasy (@PeterDeasy1) April 6, 2020
He’s not for sell!!!
— DBarnard1989 (@DBarnard1989) April 5, 2020
