The central defense was the most sound unit last year for West Ham. With Fabian Balbuena out and rumors surrounding Issa Diop, the Hammers need security.
It has been reported by Salvatore Cantone, a journalist at Gazzetta Dello Sport in Italy, that Issa Diop is being courted by AC Milan. The now 24-year-old came to West Ham with all of the praise and hope he could back in 2018. However, he has lacked to get substantial match time and has certainly not fulfilled what was hoped.
The rumor that he is linked elsewhere comes to no surprise with his youth still about him, but with Balbuena already moving on, West Ham could be quickly lacking depth at their most structured position. If he is sold, the good news is that he will bring in some lucrative cash. With that cash needs to come the buying of Duje Caleta-Car.
Caleta-Car, also 24, not only has some impressive European outings to his CV, he has capped more than a few times for his native country of Croatia. The initial story is quite similar between him and Diop; both having high praise and both succeeding in the French first division.
West Ham: Diop transfer rumors should ignite Caleta-Car flame immediately
The big difference between the two really boils down to confidence and passing. There has been more time than not where Diop looked uncomfortable on the ball and has left more than a few erred passes hanging out there. Caleta-Car, however, is solid in the ball-handling realm, never dropping below an 86% passing percentage on both short-range and medium-range passes.
West Ham has been linked with several central defenders to include James Tarkowski, but DCC has youth on his side compared to Tark, and that means something considering the Hammers lack many defenders on the right side of 30. David Moyes clearly likes a defender with experience (I.E., Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell, and Craig Dawson), who has flourished under Moyes.
Caleta-Car brings the same experience level as those aforementioned names, but he has it at a much younger age. Regardless of if West Ham sells Diop or not, DCC needs to be on the top of the list of incoming transfers. With Croatia moving into the round of 16 at the Euros, don’t expect this deal to happen soon, but it certainly needs to move quickly in that direction.