West Ham United made a brilliant decision by selling one specific player to our Premier League London rivals.
The Hammers have actually been fairly poor in the transfer market when it comes to selling players over the past few years.
In fact, aside from the Declan Rice sale, the only outgoing transfer over the past five years that West Ham came out of looking like winners was Grady Diangana’s move to West Brom.
West Ham have to improve upon the way we use fringe players. Under David Moyes, only 13 players knew that, and felt like, they were part of the squad.
The fringe players were completely jettisoned from the group, and as a result, their form and value tanked, making it impossible to sell any of them for any kind of decent fees.
It’s a problem that has plagued Julen Lopetegui this summer just gone as well.
However, there was one incredible bit of business that Moyes performed for the Hammers.
And I feel like it’s gone under the radar somewhat, as to how good the sale actually was for West Ham United.
West Ham were spot on selling Issa Diop to Fulham
Despite selling the defender for a £7 million loss, the Hammers got this one absolutely bang on the money.
Fulham signed Issa Diop from West Ham in the summer of 2022 for around £15 million (Sky Sports).
At the time, Moyes suggested that he really didn’t want to sell the centre-back to Fulham. It’s worked out well for us in the end though.
The 27-year-old has been decent for Fulham, but not great by any means.
Diop has made only 40 Premier League starts for the Cottagers out of a possible 80 games since he joined the west London outfit.
The 6ft 4in former Hammer has put in some very good performances for Fulham, but he has made some calamitous errors as well.
His performance for Fulham against Chelsea last season perfectly sums him up – he was absolutely woeful.
And he has looked incredibly shaky this season as well. When I watch Diop play, I always feel like he’s someone who can be got at, and opposition managers are obviously thinking the same thing.
West Ham struck gold by selling Issa Diop
On paper, Diop should be an elite player, with his physical attributes and pace.
However, the Frenchman has big problems. His concentration levels are appallingly bad whilst his decision making can be extremely rash at times.
Diop’s performances for the Cottagers are eerily similar to the ones he produced at the London Stadium – schoolboy in their nature with smatterings of brilliance along the way.
When West Ham signed Issa Diop from Toulouse back in 2018 for around £22 million (Daily Mail), it seemed like we had secured an unbelievably good deal.
Now, the fact that we made a £7 million loss on him seems like great business, as crazy as that sounds.
I always thought that we would regret selling the 27-year-old centre-back, but it’s quite the opposite. The Hammers struck gold by getting £15 million for him in my opinion.
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