Issa Diop

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This all depends on what level of defender we think he can become. He's very young, good in the air (which neither Lindelof or Bailly are), and comfortable on both sides (which Bailly and Smalling aren't), and one of the better defenders in the Premier League. If we believe that he's going to reach the elite level, then I've no problem paying £60m for him. I'd prefer De Ligt, Koulibaly, Van Dyke, or Varane... (obviously) but he's a very exciting prospect.

That said, I haven't totally given up on Lindelof, Bailly, or Tuanzebe. Smalling gets more stick than he deserves, but I feel we need to move on from Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Valencia, Young, and Darmian.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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They’ll accept £60m I think. Can’t see they ask anything higher than that & Ed will purchase because he doesn’t have anymore choice. Koulibaly is crazy for 130m, Maguire is still too overpriced for anything higher than Van Dijk’s price. De Ligt is gone. The rest are not available in the market & this is the only option we got, not on a top level but very promising option.

If they want Rojo or Jones, we can cut the fees with 5m ‘’being nice’’. If they want Bailly then we can cut the fees with 15m Or 20m.
 

Rozay

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Think we’d have to go somewhere between £70m and £80m to get them to sell this summer. And if we can’t get De Ligt, I’d be willing to pay that kind of amount for him. He’s a brilliant young defender, one of the best centre halves in the league and plenty of room to grow (as a player, he’s already a giant of a man!). He isn’t a great ball player per se, but he’s VVD level of potential as an actual defender for me. Plays left side and would suit playing with Lindelöf I think.

Of the PL options, he’s easily the one I think.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Think we’d have to go somewhere between £70m and £80m to get them to sell this summer. And if we can’t get De Ligt, I’d be willing to pay that kind of amount for him. He’s a brilliant young defender, one of the best centre halves in the league and plenty of room to grow (as a player, he’s already a giant of a man!). He isn’t a great ball player per se, but he’s VVD level of potential as an actual defender for me. Plays left side and would suit playing with Lindelöf I think.

Of the PL options, he’s easily the one I think.
That’s crazy. No one will pay. We won’t sign a centre back then.
 

Lee565

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Here the club is dithering around with their scattergun approach and chasing players with silly valuations for the likes of Diop and Maguire whilst Arsenal look to be landing the highly promising Saliba for just 25 million
 

Rozay

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That’s crazy. No one will pay. We won’t sign a centre back then.
You’d be surprised. 18 months ago, ‘nobody would pay’ £75m for a Southampton defender who was barely an international.

Someone will pay. Either this year, next, or the one after. He’s never a West Ham player. In his case I’d just pay it. He’s one of the best young centre halves in the game. I’m not a believer in mindless frivolity, but I am a believer in getting the right player. Personally, I think Diop is the right player, providing De Ligt is not available. Koulibaly is also brilliant, but Diop is significantly younger. I think it’s, at times, important to overpay to get the right player. I’d pay £140m for Sancho, even if some people think £120m is a ‘fair’ price. If that was the difference between not getting a player like that who will be a long-term investment. I’d pay £70m-£80m for Diop but not for Maguire. I think Maguire is a good player, but certainly in the bracket of players you move for if you can’t get the ones you really want. I think, in those cases, you don’t pay the same price as your first choices. Diop is in a different bracket of signing for me, amongst the first tier of options. Not the ‘better than signing nobody’ that is Harry Maguire.
 

Bastian

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Any idea which player we are trying to shift to them? We could actually give them two defenders. We've got a lot.
 

passing-wind

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60 million for Diop ? That's madness, better offering slightly less for Nathan Ake he's had a more consistent season. So underrated it's beyond a joke.
 

Rozay

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60 million for Diop ? That's madness, better offering slightly less for Nathan Ake he's had a more consistent season. So underrated it's beyond a joke.
Given the current market prices, and his contract situation, I think £60m is a very fair price for him. If De Ligt isn’t an option I’d pay it tomorrow, and even if De Ligt was, I’d still be tempted to pay it as 2 class centre halves for £120m isn’t even THAT terrible in current market.

If we could offset some of the cost by chucking in some of our dross we have a cracking deal.
 

Devil81

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60 million for Diop ? That's madness, better offering slightly less for Nathan Ake he's had a more consistent season. So underrated it's beyond a joke.
I'm with you on that one, Ake is a decent player and has been flying under the radar for the last twelve months. I believe Chelsea have first refusal but given their transfer window ban now might weirdly be the right time to go for him.

As for Issa Diop, I can honestly say a season when by and I didn't notice the lad once. He never stood out and I never remember a pundit praising him, 60 million is a scandal.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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You’d be surprised. 18 months ago, ‘nobody would pay’ £75m for a Southampton defender who was barely an international.

Someone will pay. Either this year, next, or the one after. He’s never a West Ham player. In his case I’d just pay it. He’s one of the best young centre halves in the game. I’m not a believer in mindless frivolity, but I am a believer in getting the right player. Personally, I think Diop is the right player, providing De Ligt is not available. Koulibaly is also brilliant, but Diop is significantly younger. I think it’s, at times, important to overpay to get the right player. I’d pay £140m for Sancho, even if some people think £120m is a ‘fair’ price. If that was the difference between not getting a player like that who will be a long-term investment. I’d pay £70m-£80m for Diop but not for Maguire. I think Maguire is a good player, but certainly in the bracket of players you move for if you can’t get the ones you really want. I think, in those cases, you don’t pay the same price as your first choices. Diop is in a different bracket of signing for me, amongst the first tier of options. Not the ‘better than signing nobody’ that is Harry Maguire.
Reported as 60m. Like I said before 70m or 80m is madness. Van Dijk was proven and had 2 seasons and half. Diop only had 1 season and already cost 80m doesn’t make sense but crazy, can’t imagine how much he will cost next season.
 

Ekeke

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Reported as 60m. Like I said before 70m or 80m is madness. Van Dijk was proven and had 2 seasons and half. Diop only had 1 season and already cost 80m doesn’t make sense but crazy, can’t imagine how much he will cost next season.
And he wasnt even that outstanding, he was a good young CB but nothing to go crazy over
 

bond19821982

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Are we getting a 60m better than Smalling in Diop ?

No idea why we are trying for him if he is bad with the ball.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Are we getting a 60m better than Smalling in Diop ?

No idea why we are trying for him if he is bad with the ball.
He looks good on the ball to me. We are really running out of option. If we don’t even want splash 60m on a centre back like Diop then I doubt we will get a new one this summer.
 

-Supreme-

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Any idea which player we are trying to shift to them? We could actually give them two defenders. We've got a lot.
They have a South American manager in Pellegrini, I'd say Rojo is very likely to be offered as player + cash deal.

I think £45m + Rojo is actually not a bad deal for us
 

Adnan

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He's actually not good enough on the ball from what I've seen off him. I doubt Barca would be interested for that very reason. He's a very good defender though, but is very similar to Chris Smalling in some aspects.
 

Rozay

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Reported as 60m. Like I said before 70m or 80m is madness. Van Dijk was proven and had 2 seasons and half. Diop only had 1 season and already cost 80m doesn’t make sense but crazy, can’t imagine how much he will cost next season.
I’m also considering that he was purchased last summer. It’s not West Ham’s duty to try to be ‘fair’ with us at this point. That’s why I expected it would take £70m-£80m to get him.
 

The Nani

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I’m also considering that he was purchased last summer. It’s not West Ham’s duty to try to be ‘fair’ with us at this point. That’s why I expected it would take £70m-£80m to get him.
It’s just a terrible idea for so many reasons. He wouldn’t improve us and Tuanzebe has more potential long term.

They probably asked for Axel. The jokers.
 

diarm

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They reckon he's worth £60m. I say we give them £80m plus Smalling and Jones. Everyone wins.
 

Rozay

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Quite amazing no one was linked with him then in less than a day 3 massive clubs are all after him with a ridiculous price tag.
My suspicion is that he would not have been seen as an option this summer. West Ham only bought him last year. I imagine all the big clubs were aware of him though, and any movement for one of them has sprung others into action.

I suspect that if we actually formed up our interest in Sancho this summer with an offer, other surprise suitors would come out of the woodworks. I don’t buy the narrative that we’re the only big club after him. Think the consensus is to leave him be for this year.
 

Bastian

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They have a South American manager in Pellegrini, I'd say Rojo is very likely to be offered as player + cash deal.

I think £45m + Rojo is actually not a bad deal for us
Yeah, would be tasty.
 

Offside

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Apparently we’ve offered them £45m plus Smalling, Jones and Rojo but they’re holding out for £46m
 

diarm

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They have a South American manager in Pellegrini, I'd say Rojo is very likely to be offered as player + cash deal.

I think £45m + Rojo is actually not a bad deal for us
Are they going to give Ed a handjob while they're at it? That would be an unbelievable deal.
 

Rozay

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It’s just a terrible idea for so many reasons. He wouldn’t improve us and Tuanzebe has more potential long term.

They probably asked for Axel. The jokers.
Opinions I guess. I think he’s improve us now, and is a bigger talent than Axel, but we’ll see. He’s a proper dominant defender that’s all I know, although I concede that he’s not this ‘number-5-cum-number-10’ that is all the rage these days.
 

diarm

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Are you Jose?
In fairness, I think you can prefer a taller centre back without having Jose's fetish for a side full of Peter Crouch's.

In other news, it's just struck me that a man as tall as him was called Crouch. How did I miss that?
 

-Supreme-

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Are they going to give Ed a handjob while they're at it? That would be an unbelievable deal.
As much as we all want to get rid of Rojo, in today's climate we could easily get £15m for him so I wouldn't say £60m is that great for us but its certainly better than paying £60m cash