West Ham United insider @ExWHUemployee has claimed that the Hammers may be looking to ship out French defender Issa Diop.
The 23-year-old centre-back has been situated at the London Stadium since the summer of 2018, having signed for the Irons from Toulouse in a £22.5m deal (per Transfermarkt).
Since signing for West Ham, the Frenchman has made a total of 78 appearances for the club, in which he has managed to bag five goals and one assist.
Having until the summer of 2023 left on his existing deal with David Moyes’ outfit, Diop currently has a market value of £18m according to Transfermarkt.
In the latest episode of The West Ham Way Podcast, @ExWHUemployee revealed that the Hammers may be looking to move the Frenchman on prior to Sebastien Haller’s move to Ajax.
He said: “The club is, I think, pretty keen to cash in on [Haller] now and I think the player wants to go. If we can do it in January, that would give us options to sign strikers.
“If not, [it will be in] the summer, same with Diop.
“I know they haven’t made a complete decision on Diop and we’ll see how the season goes, but essentially, he’s fifth-choice centre-back now.
“His value is a lot to the club, so they don’t want to have his value depreciate.”
TIF Thoughts on @ExWHUemployee’s claim on Issa Diop…
As can be seen in what the in-the-know podcaster had to say, it seems that Diop may be following Haller out of the exit door at the London Stadium following the Ivorian’s move to the Netherlands.
Would you mind if the club sold Issa Diop this month?
No, he's not that good
Yes, we need to keep him
So far this season, Diop has made just four Premier League appearances for the Hammers, in which he has earned a weak 6.30/10 average rating (per WhoScored).
That rating has made the 23-year-old Frenchman the fifth-worst performer to feature for Moyes’ side in the league this term.
With Diop’s value having stood at a whopping £31.5m in December 2019, it has drastically fallen since then as it has decreased by £13.5m to his current £18m value.
So, perhaps it is no surprise that the club wants to ship the centre-back out before his value falls any further.