Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho is keen to add West Ham United defender Issa Diop to his title-chasing squad during the January transfer window, according to the Mirror (5 January, page 57).
Football is a fickle mistress; just ask Diop.
As recently as 2019, the talented Frenchman was being linked with a £60 million move to Manchester United (Sky). Now, after falling behind Angelo Ogbonna, Fabian Balbuena and Craig Dawson in David Moyes’ pecking order, he is West Ham’s fourth-choice centre-half and facing an unceremonious mid-season departure.
The Sun (20 December, page 65) reports that the Hammers will listen to bids this month, with the £23 million Diop available either on loan or on a permanent basis.
Whether West Ham would be willing to let the former Toulouse captain make the short trip across London to arch-rivals Spurs, however, is another matter altogether.
Aggressive in the air and blessed with natural-born leadership skills, Diop is a typical Jose Mourinho centre-half. Yet there are certainly worrying comparisons to be drawn with Spurs’ own Davinson Sanchez; another highly-rated, expensively-acquired central defender whose reputation has taken a beating after a string of errors.
Mourinho may be willing to overlook his recent decline in order to land a player he has admired for some time.
“(Diop had a) fantastic match,” Mourinho told BT after West Ham’s 3-1 triumph over his Manchester United side in September 2018.
“Congratulations to the scout that found a 21-year-old kid Diop – a monster who dominated in the duels.”
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