According to reports in France, via Sport Witness, Issa Diop could be on his way out of West Ham in January, with AC Milan, Newcastle and Watford all sniffing around for his signature.

The Lowdown: Diop faltering

Diop has had an up and down career in east London since joining from Toulouse in 2018. He racked up 64 Premier League starts across his first two campaigns as a Hammer, but has fallen out of favour and made the XI just five times in the top flight this season (Whoscored).

That fall from grace has largely been down to the form of Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma under David Moyes, with injuries to the pair the only reason Diop has found himself back in the team in recent weeks.

He hasn’t exactly thrived since returning to the heart of the defence though, ranking as West Ham’s 16th-best performer this season. He averages a mere one aerial duel win per game, less than half that of both Ogbonna and Zouma (Whoscored).

The Latest: Hammers in contact

According to Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, translated by SW, three clubs have already initiated contact to offer Diop a route away from the Irons.

The report claims Milan have made an enquiry while Newcastle and Watford have also ‘established contacts’, although there are no specifics on whether West Ham have a desire to sell.

Diop is currently valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, with a contract running until 2023 – the club also have an option to extend that by a further year.

The Verdict: Would be foolish from GSB

While there is no question Diop’s development has not gone as expected after his early promise in claret and blue, selling in January would be foolish, especially to a Premier League rival.

The 6 foot 4 colossus seems to have lost a bit of confidence – to go from Jose Mourinho hailing him as a “monster” who “dominated” Manchester United back in September 2018 to a player struggling to win a single header per game certainly indicates that.

However, he is still only 24, and with the injury crisis suffered at centre-back this season Moyes simply does not have the option of cashing in now. That would leave the Scot with only Craig Dawson as a senior centre-back, and it’s hard to envisage GSB splashing the cash on several winter signings to fill that gap.

With the time left on his contract, the Hammers would be much wiser allowing the Frenchman six more months to prove his worth, and simply sell up in the summer once their first-choice pairing returns if that does not happen.

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