Beck Pascal

Mon 13 June 2022 15:15, UK

West Ham United centre-back Issa Diop should pack his bags and leave the London Stadium now after the latest transfer developments at the club.

The 25-year-old only played 13 times in the Premier League for the Irons in 2021/22 and the majority of those appearances were down to key starters being injured.

With Nayef Aguerd set to undergo his medical [2M, 13 June] with the Hammers ahead of his summer move, the Hammers defender needs to read the room and do the best thing for his career.

Diop barely played last season and with David Moyes already adding another centre-back to the squad and potentially more ahead of the transfer windows closure, things aren’t going to get any better for him.

The Frenchman has been out of favour for quite some time and if he doesn’t want to rot on the bench any longer, he must leave east London in the hunt for game time.

Double-edged sword.

West Ham’s biggest weakness last season was their squad depth and the only way to build that is by keeping existing players whilst making signings.

Unfortunately, the east Londoners simply aren’t in the position to do that because they simply can’t afford it or are too tight to fork over the money in transfer fees and wages.

It is a real shame what has happened to Diop because when he joined the Irons, he was tipped to be a star – nobody could believe just how good he was in his first season.

The smart thing for the club would be to keep him but why would he want to stay at the club aged 25 and most likely being the fifth-choice centre-back?

There is the argument that Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna will soon be on their way out which will see him climb the ladder but everything we have seen over the last couple of seasons suggests he simply isn’t good enough.

In other West Ham news, a key West Ham man has humiliated himself with a series of off the mark rants

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