West Ham Defender Issa Diop Wanted On Loan

West Ham could face a battle to keep hold of their promising defender Issa Diop, as OGC Nice wants him on loan.

According to the Sun, OGC Nice have tabled a loan offer for the 23-year-old. Issa Diop was signed by West Ham from Toulouse and is the most expensive defender ever bought by the club. The french sides offer has also included an option to make the loan permanent, should they qualify for the Champions League.

Diop’s position at the club has come under question recently as his game time has been severely cut this season. The defender started the season as first-choice alongside Angelo Ogbonna but dropped out of the side after a positive COVID-19 test. Since then, Diop has not been able to break back into the team.

Arguably Diop is now the club’s fourth-choice centre-back behind Fabian Balbuena and Craig Dawson. The two defenders have performed very well when they have been on the pitch, making it very hard for David Moyes to give Diop game time.

The Scottish manager may even be keen on the idea of shifting the young defender on. Transferring Diop would likely add a significant amount of money to Moyes’ transfer and wage budgets. Especially if Moyes doesn’t fully trust the Frenchman, hence the favouring Dawson and Balbuena.

Diop has suffered a major fall from grace during his time at West Ham. The defender impressed immensely when he first joined the club. Scoring a brilliant strike in the Lague cup and being called a “Monster” by Jose Mourinho. In the last eighteen months, Diop has become a shadow of his former self and is increasingly error-prone.

Still young at 23-years-old, West Ham, if they do decide to sell him, should recoup their original investment in the defender. Moyes has been interested in a number of centre-backs and could return for one of his targets should Diop move on from the Hammers.