Diop’s head well and truly turned

By Dave Langton

Issa Diop has had his head well and truly turned by the prospect of a move to Fulham, leading to West Ham accepting a cut-price bid from the newly-promoted club.

The Hammers have accepted a £13m offer, that includes add-ons, for the central defender, despite placing a £20m asking price on his head earlier this summer.

David Moyes had planned to keep Diop at the club after Nayef Aguerd sustained his knee injury.

But sources at the club have confirmed the centre-back has told the club that he was not in the right frame of mind to play against Manchester City on Sunday, due to the ongoing speculation surrounding his future.

Diop is now poised to leave the club for a much lower fee than was originally planned at the beginning of the summer.

The Hammers are likely to attempt to bring another centre-back into the club once Diop leaves, especially given the injury crisis in defence that led to Ben Johnson playing out of position against City.