Daily Star journalist Paul Brown thinks West Ham defender Craig Dawson has outshone his teammate Issa Diop over the past 12 months.
Neither man has been in the starting line-up recently for the Irons in the top-flight, but that looks set to change soon following an update on the condition of Angelo Ogbonna.
What's happened to Ogbonna?
Ogbonna played every minute of West Ham's opening 10 league fixtures, and was named in the starting line-up again on Sunday afternoon alongside Kurt Zouma when the team took on Liverpool.
However, he was forced off after just 22 minutes, and it has since been confirmed that he suffered a serious knee injury.
The 33-year-old is set to see a specialist this week to determine how long he will be out for, but given that he has damaged his ACL, it seems that he is likely to be sidelined for a number of months.
What has Brown said about Dawson and Diop?
Ogbonna's injury looks to have presented an opportunity for either Dawson or Diop to get an extended run in David Moyes' starting XI.
When assessing how the pair have fared under the Scot, Brown has claimed that Dawson has performed better than his younger counterpart.
He told GIVEMESPORT: “They brought Dawson in basically because they didn’t think Diop was good enough. And he showed Diop exactly what you should be doing. Nowhere near as talented an individual, but absolutely outstanding performances on the pitch.”
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Will Moyes turn to Dawson or Diop?
West Ham spent £22.5m on Diop back in 2018, so they obviously had high hopes for him. He has struggled to consistently live up to that price-tag over the past three years, though.
Meanwhile, Dawson only came in on an initial loan deal last October, before the Hammers paid just over £2m for him in the summer.
Despite the discrepancy in terms of cost between the two players, Dawson is the one who has proved himself so far, and he appears to be in pole position at the moment to replace Ogbonna.
The 6 foot 2 defender on for the Italian against Liverpool, and has made eight league appearances in total this season, while Diop is yet to feature in the Premier League.
Yet, as Brown mentioned, Diop does have plenty of talent, and is seven years younger than Dawson, so it may be time for Moyes to show some faith in him and give him some minutes on the pitch.
It promises to be a big decision for the manager ahead of West Ham's return to action against Wolves on November 20.
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