Issa Diop says he doesn't see West Ham as a springboard to bigger and better things in his career in a positive and defiant message to Hammers fans after a summer of transfer speculation.
Manchester United were heavily linked with a move for the centre back, who has only been at the Hammer for a little more than a year after joining for a then club-record fee from Toulouse last summer.
The Hammers could eventually pay up to £25m for the French defender who enjoyed a successful debut season in England, making 38 appearances across all competitions.
It was a season of ups and downs for the 22-year-old, scoring an own goal on debut against Arsenal before forging a very successful centre back partnership with Fabian Balbuena, to being dropped for three games in April and then regaining his place at the end of the campaign.
His performance against Manchester United at London Stadium last September saw former Reds boss Jose Mourinho hail Diop as a "monster" in a 3-1 win for Manuel Pellegrini's side ten months ago.
And it was United, who were desperate to sign a new centre half this summer, that were linked with a big money swoop for Diop though West Ham insisted the player was never for sale and was never going to be, for any price.
Diop is seemingly keen to repay the faith Pellegrini and the club has shown in him as he heads into his second season in English football and targets a first call-up to the French senior national side.
“West Ham, for me, it was not and is still not a springboard to go elsewhere, it’s the club where I want to try to become the best defender I can be, compared to my qualities," he told France Football and translated by Sport Witness .
"Whether technical, tactical, physical, I still have a large margin of progression
"It is the performance that I will make in the match that will determine if I have the level to play with Les Bleus (France). It’s up to me to work. That’s how I see things.
"All very good players go into the national team. Well, if I am very good, it will come if it should come. Obviously it’s a goal, but the proof that I deserve to reach it, it’s me who must give it.
"West Ham, for me, it was not and is still not a springboard to go elsewhere, it’s the club where I want to try to become the best defender I can be, compared to my qualities."
United eventually purchased Harry Maguire from Leicester City for a world-record £80m fee to fill their gap at centre half, while the Hammers bolstered their centre back core alongside Diop by signing highly-rated teenager Goncalo Cardoso from Boavista for a bargain £2.75m.
