West Ham United continue to be links with Barcelona’s Marlon Santos.
Barcelona defender Marlon Santos has told Marca that he has had no contact with the club throughout his loan spell with Nice, potentially hinting at a move away.
Barca swooped to sign the defender in 2016, landing him from Fluminense in his native Brazil before assigning him to their B team in the second tier of Spanish football.
Marlon’s move was turned permanent last summer despite making just two first-team appearances for the club, but he was loaned straight back out to French side Nice.
During his time with Nice, Marlon made 23 Ligue 1 appearances in a strong campaign, and has a year left on his two-year loan deal at Nice, but his future remains up in the air.
Marlon won’t be returning to Barca and would certainly not have a first-team place given the presence of Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Yerry Mina, and the player has commented on his situation.
Marlon has told Marca that he has had no contact with Barcelona throughout his time with Nice and doesn’t even know if anybody from the Catalan club has bothered to go and watch him in action.
“I don’t know if anyone from Barcelona has come to see me this season, I don’t keep in touch with the club,” said Marlon. “Of course I want to return, but for now my head is in Nice. I have another year here and I am completely focused on what is happening here. I’m very happy in Nice, I’ve gained a lot of experience and I’ve played alongside great players. I’ve grown a lot, I’ve completely changed my football mentality and that’s the most important thing,” he added.
Reports from the Daily Mail claim that West Ham United are interest in signing Marlon, and with Marlon seemingly unsure about his Barcelona future, the Hammers may be in a strong position to swoop and get his Nice loan cancelled for a permanent move to East London this summer.
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