West Ham United will be looking for a new beginning under Manuel Pellegrini and the Chilean manager has already started to make some moves in the transfer market. The East London outfit has already secured the likes of Issa Diop, Ryan Fredericks and Lukasz Fabianski. Now, they are being linked with a move for Barcelona defender Marlon Santos who spent last season on loan with French outfit Nice.
It is being reported that the Hammers are willing to offer £13m for the Brazilian centre-back but they are yet not committed completely in making a move for him as they are juggling with other alternatives as well. Meanwhile, Southampton are also in the race to sign the 22-year-old defender and West Ham will soon have to make up their mind whether they want to make a move for this Barcelona defender.
Santos came out of the Brazilian top division club Fluminense where he impressed Barcelona scouts and as a result, they got him on a season-long loan to the Catalonian outfit. He continued playing for the Barcelona B side and it seems that the defender impressed the board and officials as they offered him a permanent contract after the loan spell.
The defender had made 27 appearances in all competitions for Nice and that experience would have certainly done him a world of good. The 22-year-old has represented Brazil at various youth levels and has all the attributes to be a future Brazil international. It looks very unlikely that he will be able to break into the current Barcelona lineup as they have the likes of Gerard Pique, Samuel Umititi and Yerry Mina as possible options at the back.
Making a switch to the Premier League will certainly be the biggest test of the Brazilian’s career but he seems to have all facets to his game to succeed at the top level. The Hammers finished 13th in the English top tier last season and they had the joint worst defensive record in the league. Hence, Pellegrini has surely identified their Achilles heel as they have already wrapped up a deal for highly-rated French centre-back Issa Diop.
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Getting a player who hasn’t had the experience of the Premier League will always be a risk and it remains to be seen whether the defender will be able to deal with the tempo and physicality of the English top flight. It is likely that Pellegrini will slowly push him into the first-team if he ends up sealing a move to East London this summer.
