Target: Issa Diop
(Picture: Getty Images)West Ham remain hopeful of commanding a fee of close to £20milllion for defender Issa Diop, amid interest from Fulham.
The newly-promoted side had an initial offer of £12m rejected last week by the Hammers, who want to recoup most of the then club-record sum they paid to sign Diop from Toulouse in 2018.
The arrival of Moroccan international Nayef Aguerd from Rennes earlier this summer, coupled with the return to fitness of Angelo Ogbonna, means Diop has slipped down the pecking order under David Moyes, who also has last season’s first-choice pairing of Kurt Zouma and Craig Dawson at his disposal at centre-back.
Meanwhile, West Ham will this evening continue their pre-season campaign with a pair of friendlies against Boreham Wood and Ipswich Town.
Moyes’ first-team squad is set to be distributed evenly across the two games and supplemented by youth team players, as was the case for last week’s win over Servette in Geneva.
West Ham’s international players, including the likes of Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen, will not be involved, having only returned to training after an extended summer break on Monday.
However, new signing Flynn Downes will feature after completing his move from Swansea last week and it is understood the midfielder will be part of the side that travels to Portman Road to face Ipswich, whose academy he came through.
