West Ham United are interested in signing defender Marlon Santos from Barcelona, according to Spanish newspaper Sport, as cited in SportWitness.
What’s the story?
The 22-year-old centre-back is currently one year into a two-year loan deal at Nice, but Barcelona are prepared to cancel the agreement for a transfer, according to the report.
The Brazilian defender notched up 23 appearances in Ligue 1 this season and his form has brought him to the attention of other clubs.
Santos is valued at £5.4million on Transfermarkt, but Barcelona want a fee around £14million for the young defender.
Is he worth it?
Marlon Santos has not had loads of first-team experience so far in his career, but he did impress on loan at Nice last season.
He can play as a centre-back or on the right of a back four and would be a useful addition to the squad.
It is unclear yet whether new boss Manuel Pellegrini sees Santos as an immediate first-team player or someone to grow into the role, as he is still relatively inexperienced.
With the addition of Fredericks, West Ham are clearly going about reshaping their leaky defence and that can only be a good sign for the Hammers for the season ahead.
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