Spanish giants FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are interested in signing West Ham United’s Issa Diop, according to a report by Don Balon.
As stated in the report, the centre-back is highly-rated by figures at both La Liga clubs and they are contemplating a move for him this summer.
Diop has been a key figure for the Hammers so far this season, cementing his starting role and putting in some impressive displays.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone reportedly sees Diop as the perfect replacement for Mario Hermoso or Stefan Savic, whilst Barcelona’s president Josep Bartomeu is a keen admirer of the Frenchman and hopes he can agree on a €40m deal with the Hammers.
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The centre-back has some impressive numbers in the league this season, winning 100 duels, making 122 clearances and intercepting 39 times (PremierLeague.com), so it’s no surprise to us that teams like Barcelona are impressed and want to sign him.
We feel that the Hammers need to do everything they can to hold on to the centre-back because if they lose him, they will be pretty thin in that department. Fabian Balbuena is currently out of favour under Moyes and Winston Reid is injury prone, meaning the Hammers may need to dip into the market to replace him.
The 6ft 3in defender is a towering presence at the back and is starting to show why the club paid £22m to sign him from Toulouse by putting in consistently good performances, as proven in recent weeks against Southampton and Arsenal, where he scored 6.99 and 7.48 on WhoScored respectively.
