At the start of this month, we carried a report from L’Equipe, who stated that Lyon have held ‘discussions’ with West Ham United’s Issa Diop over a possible transfer in the summer.
Since this report surfaced, the Hammers settled for a 1-1 draw against Peter Bosz’s side last week before sealing a 3-0 win on Thursday. A 4-1 aggregate result against Lyon helped the English club seal a berth in this season’s Europa League semi-final.
L’Equipe now state the Ligue 1 side lacked tall players in their defence against West Ham United. Therefore, Lyon are ‘working to find a larger defender’ next season since Jérôme Boateng hardly plays, and Jason Denayer will leave the club after this season.
The French club ‘quickly defined’ the ‘priority for this position’ is Diop. The report states David Moyes’ man ‘meets expectations’ of the profile of the player they are looking for.
Lyon took advantage of the Europa League clash against West Ham United to hold talks with the defender’s representatives. The 25-year-old’s agent met Lyon sporting director Vincent Ponsot earlier this week.
Bosz’s side plan to offer Diop a long-term contract that will include an ‘attractive salary’. The player, for now, wants to wait and watch to ‘consider all the options available to him’.
According to L’Equipe, West Ham United ‘won’t be the hardest’ to convince and could let Diop leave for ‘less than €10m’. This figure ‘falls into Lyon’s budget’ for the next window.
Lyon ‘accelerate’ for Diop as they have already met with the defender’s representatives earlier this week. If they can convince both the Frenchman and Moyes’ side, a deal is there to be concluded in the summer.
