West Ham appear close to selling defender Issa Diop this summer as David Moyes aims to rebuild his side ahead of next season.
What’s the word?
That’s according to 90min, who claim that fellow Premier League side Fulham are attempting to beat Lyon to the signing of Diop this summer.
The report states that Fulham are prepared to pay around £15m to sign the defender, although this falls slightly short of the club’s valuation of the player.
ExWHUemployee stated: “As we reported earlier £20m+ is roughly what we would accept,” and it appears Moyes is aiming to get as much for Diop as he can.
The news will delight Moyes
With the arrival of centre-back Nayef Aguerd and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola securing a permanent move following his loan spell from PSG, Moyes has made a strong start to the summer transfer window.
Furthermore, the addition of midfielder Flynn Downes to the side will add some bite to the centre of the midfield.
There will be some departures, however, and Moyes seems keen to move on Diop in order to reinvest the funds back into the squad.
The previous two seasons have seen the Frenchman appear just 31 times in the Premier League, which is a sharp decline from the 65 appearances in the preceding two campaigns.
It appears Moyes doesn’t rate the player very highly, despite the Frenchman once being lauded as a "monster" by Jose Mourinho, and it looks like he will have Aguerd, Kurt Zouma, Craig Dawson, and Angelo Ogbonna as his central defensive options for next season.
Diop was disappointed during his Premier League matches last season, averaging a rating of 6.69 as per SofaScore and keeping only two clean sheets in his 13 games.
He made zero successful dribbles, won only 51% of his total duels and lost possession 5.8 times per match in what was an unforgettable campaign for the 25-year-old.
A fresh start might be the best move for all parties involved as Moyes could use the potential £20m plus fee to bolster his squad even further.