West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan took a £22million gamble on the advice of agent Mark Mckay to sign Issa Diop by offering a favourable and creative payment deal over the four years of his contract, according to the Daily Mail.
The national newspaper revealed that the Hammers to see off a lot of other clubs to pull off the big-money summer signing with Fulham, Sevilla and Dortmund also interested as well the player having been scouted by Barcelona, Arsenal, Tottenham as well as Everton.
The Daily Mail shared quotes by McKay, who also tipped the London club off to the services of Dimitri Payet previously, who shared that it was Sullivan that pushed the hardest to sign Diop this summer.
“Plenty of clubs were talking about Issa, but they were all waiting for each other to make a move,” said the agent.
“It was clear he was a top talent. He’s quick, good in the air, good on the ball and his legs are telescopic. Credit to David Sullivan, he spoke to Mario Husillos and pushed the hardest. In a market where clubs are demanding £75m for a centre back, they’ve got themselves a great prospect.”
OPINION
What a gamble by Sullivan. Diop already looks like being a fantastic investment as the 21-year-old is already excelling at the London Stadium and will only get better given his age. The powerful centre-back seems to have formed a blossoming partnership with Fabian Balbuena, another great recruit, and it seems that the Hammers’ flaws at the back could be on the verge of being fixed for the foreseeable future. While the Hammers did need to invest in a top-quality centre-back this summer, it was still a notable risk when it came to signing Diop. The defender is still young, so didn’t have heaps of experiences compared to some, and saw the Hammers break their club record (Source: BBC Sport), at the time, to sign him. As McKay pointed out, several other clubs were waiting for each other to swoop in for Diop which shows there was lot of hesitancy surrounding signing him. This was no doubt a result of his mammoth price tag but the Hammers look like they will be laughing for years.
