Issa Diop is facing an uphill battle to get back into West Ham United boss David Moyes' preferred line-up after Kurt Zouma's summer arrival, according to journalist Paul Brown.
What's the latest news involving Diop and Zouma?
Diop became West Ham's club-record signing when he made the £22million move to east London from French side Toulouse in 2018.
The central defender has gone on to make 97 appearances for the Hammers but has yet to get involved in a Premier League clash this season, having been an unused substitute for all six fixtures so far.
He now faces further competition for a place in West Ham's backline after Zouma completed a £29.8million switch from London rivals Chelsea in the final days of the summer window.
Zouma, whose transfer came after initially rejecting a move to the London Stadium due to the club failing to meet his wage demands, has become the Hammers' highest paid player after signing a four-year deal worth £120,000-per-week.
Having been an unused substitute at Southampton, Zouma has played every minute of West Ham's Premier League campaign since and also started the Europa League group stage opener at Dinamo Zagreb.
What has Paul Brown said about the situation?
Brown believes Diop needs to show vast amounts of improvement if he is to get into Moyes' best starting line-up ahead of Zouma.
The journalist told GIVEMESPORT: "I think it looks bad for Diop that Zouma is there now too.
"He looked brilliant and formed a real wall in the European game against Dinamo Zagreb a couple of weeks ago. He has a lot of experience.
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"In terms of the physique and talent level, he is very similar to Diop, but he's been around and done it more often.
"He has Premier League and Champions League experience so it's going to be hard for Diop to get back in.
"There's no reason why he can't but he has certainly got to show a lot more than he has over the last couple of seasons to do that."
Will Diop's opportunities be limited?
It looks as though they will be in the Premier League, but the £67,000-per-week defender played the full 90 minutes alongside Zouma in the Europa League clash with Dinamo Zagreb and there were signs of a fruitful partnership developing.
The 24-year-old also impressed as he helped the Hammers keep a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup third round win at Manchester United earlier this month.
He clearly has plenty of potential and gained praise from Jose Mourinho, with the then-Manchester United boss labelling Diop as a "monster" three years ago.