• Ligue 1

Diarra wants Hammers exit

Alou Diarra insists he does not have a future at West Ham © PA Photos

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France midfielder Alou Diarra says what has happened to him at West Ham United is "incomprehensible" and emphasised that he has no desire to return to the London club.

Diarra, 31, said in an interview with L'Equipe that his poor form since returning to France on a loan deal with Rennes can be put down to a nightmare first half of the season at Upton Park.

The midfielder capped 44 times for France and a former captain under previous national manager Laurent Blanc, joined the Hammers from Marseille last summer, but made just three Premier League appearances under Sam Allardyce before being allowed to return to Ligue 1 in January.

His impact at Rennes has been minimal so far, with the player himself struggling to put his West Ham woes behind him.

"People expect a lot of me but it's hard to forget what happened in my first six months at West Ham," he told the paper, before insisting he does not see a future for himself in east London.

"I am concentrating on improving my physical condition and playing for Rennes. But it is true that I don't want to relive what I went through at West Ham.

"It is impossible [to go back] under the same conditions. I wanted to prove that I could play in the Premier League but they never wanted to give me the opportunity.

"I don't blame the coach [Allardyce] but rather the agent commissioned by West Ham. It is incomprehensible to buy a player, give him a three-year contract, and then ignore him."

Diarra, who was part of the Bordeaux team that won the Ligue 1 title in 2009, added that he could be tempted by the prospect of a permanent move to Rennes in the summer.

"Why not? Rennes are a very serious club with the potential to go on and do good things," he said, with the Brittany outfit currently eighth in the table and through to next month's Coupe de la Ligue final, where they will face Saint-Etienne.

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