West Ham United’s summer signing Issa Diop is keen to make a bigger impression on the club’s faithful after being a regular for the Premier League duties during the current campaign.
The 22-year-old was pursued from Toulouse last summer for a then club-record fee of £22m and he has since been a regular at the heart of the club’s backline despite the change in defensive partners due to injury concerns.
Speaking to the club’s official Youtube channel, the former France youth international has admitted that he is pleased with the progress made thus far but he has the ambition of getting better while continuing to receive more adulation from the club’s supporters.
Diop has featured in 24 Premier League matches for the Hammers this term and the tally has only been bettered by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and attacker Felipe Anderson, who have likewise been an integral part of Manuel Pellegrini’s plans for the starting lineup.
As such, he has slowly been building his reputation within the English top-flight and he could emerge as a genuine fan favourite, should he perform at a consistent level for an extended period.
Nonetheless, the improvement at the same pace should attract interest from some of Europe’s elite and that may test the Hammers’ resolve, given they could be tempted to sanction his sale with a meaningful profit.
That remains far from the Hammers’ plans for the moment and the immediate focus would be on pushing for the seventh spot which may guarantee a route to next season’s Europa League.
West Ham are currently six points behind Wolverhampton Wanderers for the seventh place but they can make up the deficit with a strong finish during the final 12 games of the campaign.
