Danny Mills has claimed that West Ham United defender Issa Diop will have been unsettled by the summer interest in him.
The former England international believes that the French enforcer will need to be given up to four games to get back into the swing of things after the uncertainty surrounding his Hammers’ future.
The Sky Sports pundit suggested in an interview with Football Insider that Diop would have been expecting a summer move to Manchester United to happen and added that he was sure the player’s agent would have been speaking to people.
“I think always when there’s a lot of rumours about big clubs,” Mills said.
“I’m sure his agent will have been speaking to people, there is no smoke without fire – he might have been thinking: ‘Okay, this is happening’.”
“It can be a little bit unsettling, especially when it’s the possibility of a real big move, you just need to let the first three or four games of the season settle down.”
Manchester United were reported by France Football to have offered £45million plus Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian for the Hammers’ defender – an offer that was rejected.
OPINION
There is no doubting the fact that Diop could have possibly have had his head turned by the interest from Manchester United, but for Mills to suggest that it could still be affecting him just seems wrong. The Premier League giants made their reported moves for Diop at the beginning of the transfer window, and Diop had time to take a holiday, come back and complete pre-season before the start of the season – so to suggest that he still needs a few games to settle back in to things at the London Stadium is ridiculous. West Ham’s defence has been embarrassing both in pre-season and the beginning of the Premier League, and interest from elsewhere should never come up as a potential excuse. Diop must be given a chance to recreate his form from last season, where he averaged 4.7 clearances per game [WhoScored] and if he can not rediscover that form, he must be dropped.
