Issa Diop has proved to be an inspired signing for West Ham United, and was on Tottenham Hotspur’s radar earlier this year.
With Toby Alderweireld’s future at Tottenham still looking uncertain, Mauricio Pochettino must surely be on the lookout for a new central defender who can hopefully fill the void if the Belgian does move on in the near future.
Davinson Sanchez is developing nicely and Jan Vertonghen, when fit, continues to prove to be a key player for Spurs. But Juan Foyth’s progress has seemingly been underwhelming, and Alderweireld leaving anytime soon would leave a massive gap.
Meanwhile, over at the London Stadium, Manuel Pellegrini appears to have stumbled upon some inspired defensive signings. Fabian Balbuena has proved to be a bargain addition for West Ham, while Hammers supporters are regularly taking to social media after games to suggest that Issa Diop is one of the club’s finest centre-backs for a number of years.
Diop must be considered the best signing from an incredibly busy summer for the Irons. But had events played out differently, he could have potentially been playing for Spurs this term.
The Daily Mail reported earlier this season that Spurs were amongst the teams to scout Diop while he was at Toulouse. Ultimately however, he would not end up heading to Wembley.
A deal would be incredibly difficult to pull off, but Spurs now need to seriously consider having another close look at the 21-year-old – potentially starting when the two teams meet in the Carabao Cup this week.
It is easy to forget how young Diop actually is. His value is only going to soar in the coming years, making the £22 million that West Ham paid for him – as reported by BBC Sport – look like one of the club’s finest bargains.
Given Spurs’ reluctance to match some of their rivals when it comes to some of the eye-watering transfer fees bandied about, Pochettino’s men therefore only have a limited amount of time to make another move for Diop before he moves out of their price range.
Daniel Levy would have to part with a seemingly-astronomical fee to get something done if Spurs did decide to pursue a deal. But given the form that Diop is enjoying since arriving in the Premier League, it could still prove to be a masterstroke from Tottenham if they decided to put all their energy into making up for their previous mistake with the West Ham man.
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