The Mirror on Thursday report that Arsenal have previously spoken to West Ham about their French defender Issa Diop.
According to the red-top, Unai Emery enquired about the availability of the 22-year-old centre-half.
Diop was born in Toulouse and played youth football for Balma SC before moving to Toulouse FC in 2006. He began training with the first team in September 2015, and signed a professional contract in November. He was part of an influx of young players to the squad that included Alban Lafont, Zinédine Machach, Alexis Blin and Yann Bodiger.
On 19 June 2018, Premier League club West Ham United confirmed the transfer of Diop, who signed a five-year contract. The fee, reported by British media as £22 million, was not disclosed but was announced as a club record, beating the previous record of £20 million set in July 2017 with the signing of Marko Arnautović. Diop made his Premier League and West Ham debut on 25 August. In a 3–1 away defeat by Arsenal, he scored an own goal and in doing so became the first West Ham player to score an own goal on his debut in the Premier League. Three days later, Diop scored his first goal for the club, in an EFL Cup game against AFC Wimbledon after conceding a goal after only 72 seconds, Diop scored an equalising goal for West Ham who went on to win 3–1. He won early season praise for his performances particularly against Arsenal and against Manchester United whose manager, José Mourinho commended Diop's performance in West Ham's 3–1 win over his club and of the scout who had identified the potential of Diop.= On 22 February 2019, and arsenal are on the verge
