Barcelona allowed Marlon Santos da Silva Barbosa, simply known as Marlon, to join OGC Nice on a two-year loan deal last summer. The defender impressed for the Ligue 1 outfit and his displays have seen him attract interest from clubs in England.
Mundo Deportivo reported on May 25th that West Ham United and Leicester City are interested in Marlon. They even suggested the Hammers are in pole position and have already contacted the Catalan club and Nice to express their desire in signing the Brazilian.
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivère has already confirmed that Marlon will leave the French outfit and return to his parent club, despite having one year left on his loan deal. Rivère also revealed that Barcelona have received offer for the defender.
“Barcelona have received an offer of €20m for Marlon, so he should leave OGC Nice,” Rivere said during an interview with radio station France Bleu, as relayed by local Nice publication Nice-Matin.
The report from Nice-Matin also claims that Marlon is still attracting interest from the Premier League clubs… with West Ham the only possible destination actually named.
