Issa Diop: Fulham star closing in on Ipswich move after impressing at World Cup | OneFootball

Centre-back played five times for Morocco this summer

Ipswich have reached an agreement to sign Fulham centre-back Issa Diop in a deal believed to be worth around £8.5million.

Nothing is finalised yet, but the deal appears to be moving in the right direction as Ipswich look to bolster their defensive options following promotion back to the Premier League.

Diop, who starred for Morocco at the World Cup this summer, struggled for minutes at Fulham last season and is now exploring opportunities elsewhere after four years in west London.

The 29-year-old moved to Fulham from West Ham in 2022 and has made 96 appearances in all competitions for the Whites.

Often used as a backup, Diop struggled to displace the first-choice centre-back pairing of Calvin Bassey and Joachim Andersen and does not appear to be in new manager Alvaro Arbeloa’s plans for next season.

Issa Diop impressed for Morocco at the World Cup

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Arbeloa replaced Marco Silva as Fulham manager earlier this month, signing a three-year contract to take charge of his first permanent senior managerial role.

The 43-year-old was appointed interim manager of Real Madrid until the end of last season, having previously worked with the club’s academy teams, following the departure of Xabi Alonso.

Arbeloa welcomed back the first batch of players for pre-season last week, though Diop was not in attendance at Motspur Park as he takes a break following his World Cup exploits.

Fulham have made a slow start to the summer transfer window, but confirmed last month that they had exercised their option to sign 18-year-old forward Jonah Kusi-Asare from Bayern Munich after spending last season on loan.

Ipswich, meanwhile, have already brought in three new players, with Chuba Akpom, Emerson and Cedric Kipre all joining Gary O’Neil’s squad.