Fulham and West Ham United have agreed a deal worth around £15 million for centre-back Issa Diop, who was not involved in Sunday’s defeat by Manchester City.
David Moyes, the West Ham manager, said the Frenchman had not “put himself forward to play” in the game, with full-back Ben Johnson instead having to fill in for the injured Craig Dawson.
West Ham are currently short of defensive options due to injuries to Dawson, Angelo Ogbonna and new signing Nayef Aguerd, but are ready to cash in on Diop.
Fulham have been desperate to increase their defensive options, with the imminent arrival of Diop coming after a loan deal was agreed for Brighton’s Shane Duffy last week.
Provided a deal is completed as expected, Diop will compete with Duffy, Tim Ream and Tosin Adarabioyo for two positions at the heart of Marco Silva’s defence.
Diop, 25, joined West Ham from Toulouse in 2018, for a then-club record fee of £22m. He has made more than 100 appearances for the club but fell out of favour under Moyes last season.
He will become Fulham’s seventh signing of the summer, after Joao Palhinha, Andreas Pereira, Kevin Mbabu, Bernd Leno, Manor Solomon and Duffy.
The proceeds from Diop’s sale will boost West Ham’s transfer budget in the final weeks of the window, with Moyes still keen to strengthen further across the pitch.
West Ham have already spent around £100m this summer, on striker Gianluca Scamacca, Aguerd, former Burnley winger Maxwel Cornet, midfielder Flynn Downes and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
After failing in their attempts to convince Christian Eriksen to sign a new deal at the club, Brentford are set to complete the signing of another Danish playmaker instead.
Mikkel Damsgaard is expected to be confirmed as a new Brentford player after a deal worth around £13m was agreed with Sampdoria.
Damsgaard was the player who came into the Denmark team at last year’s European Championship following Eriksen’s cardiac arrest. The 22-year-old scored a sensational free-kick against England in the semi-final at Wembley.
Brentford have been keen to add more guile in the final third following the loss of Eriksen, who has joined Manchester United. Damsgaard is also capable of playing in a wide position.
