The brief holder of West Ham’s record transfer fee, Issa Diop has been pegged as a breakout young star in the 2018/19 season. The towering center back is currently holding down a bench position in East London but will he reach his potential this season?
The list was created by thescore.ca and it hosts a collection of young (no specific age group) players across Europe’s top leagues who are “potential household names” after this season.
The Premier League predecessors are fairly well known for young breakout stars – Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Marcus Rashford, so Diop is in some very good company. He was highly touted in France, captaining the U-21 international squad and leading Toulouse at a very young age.
The article mentions that Diop is lying in wait to replace Angelo Ogbonna for starting minutes this season. While that may have been true at the outset, it seems that both Ogbonna and Fabian Balbuena are having their jobs hunted down by the towering Frenchman.
He has good company on this list in the Premier League: Lucas Torreira of Arsenal, Demari Gray of Leicester City, Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham, and Yves Bissouma of Brighton. When signed, Diop was West Ham’s record transfer fee at approximately £22 million. This massive fee comes with massive expectations and is likely a key factor in why Diop has been pegged for a break out season.
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Some young, exciting Premier League defenders, specifically center-backs that can be viewed as comparable peers for Diop include Nathan Ake of Bournemouth, Yerry Mina of Everton, and Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham.
Ake has etched a starting position out for himself with reliable and consistent play for the Cherries. Mina was a big transfer deadline buy for Everton who is gambling on a promising yet unproven player at 23 years old. Mina is coming off of an impressive World Cup performance for Colombia. Sanchez is the most well-known defender on this short list and is currently starting ahead of injured Toby Alderweireld on Tottenham. He looks the real deal.
The positive attention is nice for West Ham, and Diop seems like he could earn it as soon as this season. Manuel Pellegrini is a well-trusted name in world football so for him to single out and buy Diop shows a massive vote of confidence. Let’s hope the hype is real!