West Ham United centre-back Issa Diop wants the club to “remain open-minded” about the prospect of him leaving the club this season.
That is according to journalist Dean Jones, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the club’s potential transfer business ahead of the window’s closure next month.
The Athletic claimed last week that Fulham had made a second bid in the region of £15m for Diop this season after their initial offer of £12m was turned down.
The 25-year-old, who has previously been described as a “monster” by Jose Mourinho, made 26 appearances for David Moyes’ side last season, scoring one goal and providing two assists from centre-back in that time, according to Transfermarkt.
And Jones believes that the former France U21 international would like the club to consider his exit this summer, saying:
“He wants them to remain open-minded about letting him leave.
“I know he knows that Fulham are still waiting for him.
“So I think that Diop still will probably end up leaving, it might just drag on a bit.”
TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments…
We believe that the Irons may be unable to resist a £15m offer from Fulham for Diop this summer, with the former Toulouse man slipping behind Kurt Zouma and Craig Dawson in the pecking order at centre-back last season, whilst the summer signing of Nayef Aguerd for £30m is likely to push the defender down even further.
However, Aguerd’s pre-season injury, which resulted in the Moroccan needing ankle surgery, might mean that making a decision on Diop’s future is now a bit more challenging.
However, we still believe that £15m is too good a value to turn down for the Frenchman and we think that the Irons could invest that money in a younger replacement, or look to the academy for cover at centre-back this season, with Moyes needing to find a way to juggle their domestic and European campaigns.