Issa Diop has had the last laugh over West Ham after the £15m outcast helped Fulham to a remarkable achievement while the Hammers toil.
After being labelled a ‘monster’ by Jose Mourinho and reportedly once being valued at a staggering £75m by West Ham, it is fair to say Diop failed to live up to the lofty early expectations.
The centre-back was sold to Fulham for around £15m in the summer having never been able to establish himself in the West Ham side under David Moyes.
Diop was reportedly unhappy at his lack of game time at West Ham. But with benefit of hindsight he would have played plenty of games this season given Angelo Ogbonna’s phased return to the team, the injuries to Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma and January departure of Craig Dawson.
Earlier this season Moyes admitted he reluctantly allowed Diop to leave as he could not guarantee him game time.
“We liked Issa a lot, we would have liked Issa to stay,” Moyes said before West Ham beat Fulham 3-1 earlier this season.
“At that time, we were having difficulties with centre-halves. We liked Issa a lot, but his choice was he wanted to go and play more, and in the end we granted it.”
The former Hammer did not make the best of starts at Fulham and some of his new fans even asked whether the club could get a refund from West Ham.
There were plenty of West Ham fans who felt Diop was not good enough for them either as he was shipped off to the Cottage.
But Diop has had the last laugh over West Ham after the £15m outcast helped Fulham to a remarkable achievement while the Hammers toil.
Issa Diop has the last laugh over West Ham after £15m outcast helps Fulham to remarkable achievement while Hammers toil
If, at the time West Ham sold Diop to Fulham, you had said the Hammers would be fighting relegation while the Cottagers would be vying for a place in Europe – you would have been laughed out of the room by both sets of fans.
That has proved to be the reality, though.
West Ham sit just above the relegation zone with just five wins all season long.
West Ham secured a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday. It was a positive result but Moyes is well aware it is wins his side need.
And they look almost certain to be involved in what promises to be the tightest relegation battle for years right until the bitter end.
Meanwhile Diop has just helped Fulham secure Premier League safety with 16 games to go!
The Cottaghers beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Saturday and are level on points with sixth-placed Brighton – just six points off a Champions League spot.
But while Europe is now a very realistic aim for Marco Silva’s side, getting to 35 points effectively means Fulham have secured Premier League survival with nearly half the season to spare.
It is a remarkable achievement for a yo-yo side who would have been happy with 17th place come what May when they were promoted back to the top flight last term.
It has often been said that 40 points is the mark a team needs to reach to guarantee Premier League safety.
But history has shown that while this tally is no guarantee of avoiding relegation – as West Ham know to their cost having been relegated on what remains a record 42 points in 2003 – more often than not, a lower total has been enough.
Over the past 25 seasons, the 18th-placed team, the highest to go down, have averaged 34 points.
A look at the last four campaigns tells its own story. In 2018, 33 points kept you in the Premier League.
In 2019, 34 points was enough, 35 in 2020, 29 in 2021 and 36 last season.
Fair play to Diop and Fulham, that is some going. It seems Silva has not had any problems getting all his new signings to gel…
Now it is up to Moyes and West Ham to find another 16-18 points from their remaining 16 games to avoid disaster.
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