Barcelona join the race for towering Premier League centre-back: A wise move?

Barcelona have shown an interest in signing West Ham United defender Issa Diop, who is under contract at the London club until 2023.

According to Kaveh Solehkol of Sky Sports, the France International, who is due a call up to the national team, has drawn interest from the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Manchester United are also preparing a £45m plus player bid for the Hammers centre-back, it has been reported.

The 22-year-old, who arrived from the Ligue 1 a year ago for a fee of £22 million, featured 38 times for West Ham in all competitions last term.

A good fit for the club?

Diop is a ball playing defender who can feature both as a right or the left-sided centre-back. His anticipation and robust nature allow him to keep the opposition attackers at bay, reducing his side’s chances of conceding a goal.

The Frenchman stands at 6ft 4in and boasts supreme ability in the air, so best of luck trying to win aerial duels against him. Diop’s technical prowess and rock-solid defensive skills also help him in exerting dominance on the opposition strikers.

The numbers speak volumes about Diop’s concentration levels and awareness on the pitch. The 22-year-old averaged 2.1 tackles, 1.9 interceptions, 4.7 clearances, 1.1 blocks and 2.3 aerial duels won per game across all competitions.

Apart from his defensive prowess, the Frenchman has a calm approach to the game with his feet. He managed an average of 86% pass success rate and 1.6 successful long balls per 90 minutes, which highlights his vision and ability to build the play from the back.

These attributes are a must for a defender in the modern game, especially if you want to play for the Spanish giants FC Barcelona.

But the Blaugrana club are already hosts to the likes of Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti in defence. The club also has Jean-Clair Todibo and Jeison Murillo in the dressing room, the latter being on a loan move from Valencia until June 30th.

Splashing a lump sum of £60m or more for the 22-year-old French defender sounds far from intelligent especially for a club which has other key areas to fix on the pitch.

However, Diop could prove to be a fruitful signing seeing he would accept the understudy role to Pique in his initial years at the Camp Nou, something which has put the breaks on the arrival of Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt to the Catalan club.

Stat Courtesy: Whoscored, Transfermarkt