Issa Diop (footballer)

Issa Diop
Issa Diop, April 2018
Personal information
Full name Issa Laye Lucas Jean Diop[1]
Date of birth (1997-01-09) 9 January 1997
Place of birth Toulouse, France
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Playing position Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 West Ham United
Number 23
Youth career
2004–2006 Balma SC
2006–2015 Toulouse
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Toulouse B 7 (0)
2015–2018 Toulouse 85 (6)
2018– West Ham United 5 (0)
National team‡
2013 France U16 4 (0)
2013 France U17 5 (0)
2015 France U18 2 (0)
2015–2016 France U19 20 (3)
2017 France U20 3 (0)
2016– France U21 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:23, 30 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 October 2017

Issa Laye Lucas Jean Diop (born 9 January 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Premier League side West Ham United.[2]

Club career

Toulouse

Diop was born in Toulouse and played youth football for Balma SC before moving to Toulouse FC in 2006.[3] He began training with the first team in September 2015, and signed a professional contract in November. He was part of an influx of young players to the squad that included Alban Lafont, Zinedine Machach, Alexis Blin and Yann Bodiger.[4]

He made his Ligue 1 debut, aged 18, on 28 November 2015 against Nice, playing the full game alongside fellow debutant Lafont.[5] He scored his first goal in his second appearance on 2 December 2015, contributing to his club's 3–0 win away to fellow relegation strugglers Troyes.[6] He made 21 appearances in his first season, helping the club to eight clean sheets. He was sent off twice during a season in which the club only avoided relegation with a win on the final day.[7][8]

Diop made 30 Ligue 1 appearances in 2016–17.[2] He was named captain of his local club for the first time in April 2017.[9]

The 2017–18 season saw Diop become club captain in October. Toulouse reached the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, but again struggled in the league, avoiding relegation after a play-off victory against AC Ajaccio in May 2018.[9]

West Ham United

On 19 June 2018, Premier League club West Ham United confirmed the transfer of Diop, who signed a five-year contract. The fee, reported by British media as £22 million, was not disclosed but was announced as a club record, beating the previous record of £20 million set in July 2017 with the signing of Marko Arnautović.[10][11][12] Diop made his Premier League and West Ham debut on 25 August. In a 3-1 away defeat by Arsenal, he scored an own goal and in doing so became the first West Ham player to score an own goal on his debut in the Premier League.[13] Three days later, Diop scored his first goal for the club. In an EFL Cup game against AFC Wimbledon after conceding a goal after only 72 seconds, Diop scored an equalising goal for West Ham who went on to win 3-1.[14] He won early season praise for his performances particularly against Arsenal and against Manchester United whose manager, Jose Mourinho commended Diop's performance in West Ham's 3-1 win over his club and of the scout who had identified the potential of Diop.[15][16]

International career

Diop has been a youth international for France at every level, making his first appearance for France U16 in 2013. He was part of the team that won the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, scoring in the Final.[17] He made his debut for France U21 in a qualification game for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, against Ukraine on 2 September 2016.[2] He is also eligible to play for Morocco through his mother and for Senegal through his father.[18] In October 2018 he confirmed his international commitment to France.[19]

Personal life

Diop's grandfather, Lybasse Diop, played for Bordeaux and was the first Senegalese footballer in Ligue 1.[20] Diop is also of Moroccan descent through his mother.[21]

Style of play

Diop, at 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) in height, has been credited as being "a tremendous athlete, excellent in the air and quick across the ground" by football magazine FourFourTwo.[7] He has played mainly as a right-sided centre-back.[4] Along with the two red cards received in 2015–16, Diop amassed 25 yellow cards over the course of his three seasons at Toulouse.[8]

Career statistics

As of match played 5 October 2018[22]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Toulouse 2015–16 2111010—231
2016–17 3021000—312
2017–18 2622030—312
Toulouse total 775404000855
West Ham United 2018–19 600021—81
Career total 835406100936

Honours

France under-19

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Issa Diop at Soccerway. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Issa DIOP" (in French). Fédération Française de Football. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 White, Adam (18 June 2018). "Issa Diop – West Ham are purchasing a future leader, but not a finished product". Get French Football News. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "Toulouse vs. Nice - 28 November 2015". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Toulouse thrash Troyes in relegation six-pointer". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 "FourFourTwo's 59 Best Under-21 Wonderkids in the World: 40-31". FourFourTwo. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  8. 1 2 Wilmot, Lee (21 June 2018). "Everything you need to know about West Ham's new centre-back Diop". football.london. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  9. 1 2 Stone, Simon (19 June 2018). "Issa Diop: West Ham sign Toulouse defender for club record £22m". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "West Ham sign sought-after French defender Issa Diop". West Ham United F.C. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  11. ↑ Stone, Simon (19 June 2018). "Issa Diop: West Ham sign Toulouse defender for club record £22m". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "West Ham sign French defender Diop for club record fee". Reuters. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Oludare, Shina (25 August 2018). "Issa Diop makes Premier League history with own goal against Arsenal". Goal. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  14. ↑ "AFC Wimbledon 1-3 West Ham United". BBC Sport. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  15. ↑ Dove, Ed (30 August 2018). "Issa Diop's class shines through despite chaotic week". ESPN. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  16. ↑ Robson, James (29 September 2018). "Jose Mourinho hails West Ham 'monster' Issa Diop for 'dominating' Paul Pogba and Manchester United". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "Under-19 - France-Italy". UEFA. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Nine things you need to know about new signing Issa Diop". West Ham United F.C. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  19. ↑ Marteh, Danesius (11 October 2018). "West Ham's Issa Diop confirms international future is with France". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  20. ↑ "Graine de Pitchouns — Issa Diop". Toulouse FC. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "TFC: France, Sénégal, Maroc... Le capitaine Issa Diop a l'embarras du choix pour son avenir international". 20 Minutes. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  22. ↑ "Issa Diop Soccerway Profile". Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  23. ↑ "Technical Reportfinals" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
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