Why West Ham hope late Leicester call-up is a turning point for Issa Diop

It has been just over three years since Jose Mourinho hailed Issa Diop as "a monster" after his Manchester United side were beaten 3-1 by West Ham at the London Stadium.

Diop was singled out for praise by Mourinho following a commanding display.

A lot has changed since then, the French defender has fallen out of favour at West Ham following a difficult few seasons and his future is uncertain. His performance in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Leicester, though, offered a sign that all is not lost.

David Moyes inherited Diop from Manuel Pellegrini and has had concerns over his suitability in his side, signing Kurt Zouma last summer and pushing to recruit another new central defender in the January window.

But West Ham failed in their attempts to strengthen last month, meaning there remains a chance for Diop to impress.

At the time of Mourinho’s praise, a 21-year-old Diop, who had not long arrived at West Ham for a then club-record £22million from Toulouse, had formed a good partnership with Fabian Balbuena in the heart of defence. Following Mourinho’s comments, he was linked with a move to Old Trafford the following summer.

That move never materialised and he has struggled to kick on in the years since.

Diop, who was a captain at Toulouse before making his switch to West Ham, has at times been a figure of ridicule for some fans, with fears over his ability to play a leading role in a back line pushing for the Champions League.

Those concerns hit their peak earlier this month when Diop was one of two players hooked at half-time against sixth-tier Kidderminster Harriers after he had been tormented by the National League North side.

Following that embarrassment at Aggborough, where he was far from the only culprit, there was another blow days later as manager Moyes opted to start Zouma ahead of him against Watford less than 24 hours after the video of the former Chelsea defender attacking his cat had emerged.

Zouma was selected to start again at Leicester, only to withdraw through illness, meaning Diop needed to step in. Trepidation filled some of those in the away end.

After a difficult week, though, Diop put on a display of defiance and was one of the best players in claret and blue in the howling wind and rain at the King Power.

Not only was there an assist for Jarrod Bowen’s opener, a rehearsed ball over the top of Leicester’s high back line, but Diop was also assertive and aggressive in defence.

The frustration for many has been that they know Diop is capable of that sort of performance, but they simply do not come often enough.

"We like Issa, we really do," said Moyes after the Leicester game. “We think Issa has, I was going to say potential but we feel because he has been here that long we feel his potential should be out and he should be showing it and maturing with it.

"He has a lot of good attributes and I am pleased he did play well, he had a good game and I could not turn around and fault him too much on anything he did."

While Diop has had to play on the left side of the back two, which is not his preferred role, there have been too many occasions where he has lacked the basics; being too rash in diving in at players, guilty of ball watching or being caught under a high ball and unable to deal with it.

Adding that understanding and intelligence will be key because Diop has the physical attributes needed to be a top defender.

While there was talk of an exit in January, Moyes has never had a real desire to sell Diop. Whether that changes in the summer may well be down to his ability to kick on from what may have been a turning point on Sunday.