West Ham manager David Moyes performed an absolute masterstroke with Issa Diop
West Ham United selling Issa Diop to Fulham last summer for only a £7 million loss was a real masterstroke from David Moyes.
Long before his Fulham move, Issa Diop joined West Ham from Toulouse in the summer of 2018 for around £22 million (Daily Mail).
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However, four years later he was moved on to Fulham for around £15 million (Sky Sports), and that now looks like stunning business from Hammers boss David Moyes.
The Scot was actually close to keeping Diop at the London Stadium, but he eventually moved to Craven Cottage.
And his time with the west London outfit has been pretty much identical to his spell on the east side of the capital…
West Ham manager David Moyes performed an absolute masterstroke with Issa Diop
The 26-year-old centre-back’s performance for Fulham against Chelsea last night perfectly summed him up.
At times, Diop can be an absolutely immense central defender. Standing at 6ft 4in tall, he is aerially dominant and has pace and athleticism to match as well.
If you were to build a centre-back, you would include a lot of Diop’s attributes – certainly from a physical perspective.
Jose Mourinho was blown away by the former Toulouse ace’s performance for the Hammers against Manchester United five years ago, describing the defender as an aerially dominant ‘monster’.
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.
The problem with him is that his mistakes are usually ones that end up being severely punished by the opposition.
I was certain that Issa Diop would mature one day and become a truly elite central defender, how wrong I was though.
The 26-year-old’s inconsistent displays for the Fulham prove that Moyes was 100% correct to move him on, even if it was for a £7 million loss.
