OPINION
West Ham have successfully grabbed Lyon defender Marcelo’s attention as the French club appear to be concerned that he’ll end up joining Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
According to French outlet Le Progres the 6ft 3in Brazilian centre-back is not insensitive to the idea of joining the Hammers as they would offer him a 50% pay rise compared to his current salary at his Ligue 1 club.
It is claimed that Lyon might even reevaluate Marcelo’s current deal in order to stop him being tempted with a move to London even though he signed a three-year contract with the club in July 2017.
The Daily Mail previously reported that the Hammers had made their interest in the 31-year-old concrete as they had bid £18million in order to try and get him, only for it to be quickly rejected.
While Lyon appear to still be worrying about the possibility of Marcelo jumping ship which will leave them a centre-back down, the Hammers would be wise to swiftly end their reported pursuit.
It may now be easier to get the French giants to agree to a deal if the defender’s head has been turned as he could put pressure on his club to let him leave, but the Hammers don’t need to be in the market for a player like Marcelo any longer.
Pellegrini has plenty of centre-backs available to him as the club successfully captured the services of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena this summer, as stated by Football.London, so doesn’t really need another one.
Also while Marcelo may have impressed in his 49 outings for Lyon last season, given the fact he is 31-years-old, if he isn’t signed to be a starter then there’s no point investing heavily in someone of his age to be additional cover.
If for some reason Pellegrini finds the urge to recruit yet another centre-back this summer then he should look at a younger option who can learn from being used sparingly from the bench.
Therefore while Marcelo may clearly be tempted by a move to the Hammers this summer, the Premier League side need to put Lyon out of their misery and swiftly tell them that they’ve end their reported pursuit.
