Southampton looked to have snapped up Barcelona defender Marlon Santos from under the nose of West Ham United.
It had seemed that Marlon Santos’ hopes of a move to the Premier League were pretty much dead.
The Barcelona defender was heavily linked with a move to West Ham United earlier in the transfer window before Southampton surprisingly emerged as the frontrunners.
That was until The Saints decided to spend £18 million on Borussia Monchengladbach’s giant Danish international Yannick Vestergaard, however.
But according to Spanish publication Sport, Marlon’s move to England might not be dead in the water just yet. It is understood that there are three potential destinations for the 22-year-old now a move to St Mary’s has fallen through; Fenerbahce, Hertha Berlin and, most interestingly of all, West Ham.
Sport points out that Marlon knows for certain that he is not in Ernesto Valverde’s immediate plans at the Camp Nou after spending last season on loan with Nice in France. And West Ham are now understood to be in the strongest position of the three clubs interested in the Brazilian.
This is because negations have already taken place this summer so would just need to be resumed. Hertha and Fenerbahce, meanwhile, would have to start from scratch.
The Guardian reported in May that West Ham had their doubts about whether the 5ft 11ins Marlon, who is valued at £17.5 million, has the required physicality to thrive in England. So any deal now would look like a major risk.
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