West Ham United have been linked with Barcelona’s Marlon Santos.
According to the latest reports in The Sun, Barcelona have received an offer of £17.4 million for defender Marlon Santos with West Ham United among those keen on bringing him in this summer.
A previous report cited how the Hammers had been in contact with Barca over the possibility of signing the Brazilian this summer following his impressive loan spell at French side Nice this past season.
The Hammers are undergoing a summer of change following the arrival of newly-appointed manager Manuel Pellegrini and signing Marlon Santos – commonly known as Marlon – could signal the start of a new era and direction.
The East London club’s transfer policy in recent seasons have left many scratching their heads, not least supporters who have largely witnessed the average age of the squad increase.
The likes of Patrice Evra, Pablo Zabaleta, Javier Hernandez, Joe Hart and Marko Arnautovic all arrived at the club in the past 12 months, and the youngest stands at a rather shocking 29 years of age.
West Ham’s best chance of establishing themselves as a top eight Premier League club is to follow in the footsteps of Tottenham Hotspur, buying potential and selling when necessary.
Spurs have a transfer philosophy of buying players with massive potential and selling them on for big fees, using the money to reinvest in the team and gradually improve season upon season.
The Hammers must adopt a similar method, as buying ageing players with little re-sale value and placing them on big wages isn’t sustainable and ultimately has no long-term benefits.
Marlon, 22, is exactly the sort of player they need to be targeting and judging by his performances over the past season, there is a potentially excellent player there who needs the right sort of environment to develop.
He is an ideal stand-in for the departing James Collins, 34, while fellow centre-backs Angelo Ogbonna and Winston Reid are also at that age where West Ham need to seek long-term replacements.
Marlon may well be the first young star West Ham purchase this summer, but he shouldn’t be the last as Pellegrini really needs to freshen up the team and inject some much-needed energy and youthfulness.
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