Reports this morning that West Ham have been beaten to the signature of Barcelona’s Marlon give the impression the Hammers were genuinely after the player in recent weeks.

However, the club dropped all interest in the player weeks ago and focused their attention instead on former Toulouse star Issa Diop who has since arrived at the London Stadium.

The Mirror is reporting that the 22 year old Marlon is now on his way to Saints for a fee of £10 million – less than half the price the Hammers paid for Frenchman Diop.

It’s true we held some interest in the player a few weeks ago but Manuel Pellegrini was always focused on Diop and had doubts about a defender who on;y stands at around 5ft 10 ins.

However, the Irons new boss is still in the market for a new central defender but as we reported yesterday has seen a bid for Brazilian Marcelo turned down by Lyon.