West Ham fans have good reason to be frustrated with their club over certain transfer failures down the years, and when something goes wrong with a deal there’s usually an assumption it’s down to those in charge at the Hammers.
Whilst that may usually right, the Marlon situation may be different.
Tuesday’s edition of Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo explained there’s a €10m difference between West Ham and Barcelona for the Brazilian defender.
The English club are offering €15m and Barca want €25m. West Ham were firmly presented as being to blame and the situation was said to be ‘hurting’ the player. Marlon has been on loan at Nice as part of a two year deal and Barca have apparently pulled him back for the transfer.
Mundo Deportivo double down on that this afternoon, saying Marlon had been ‘on track’ to join West Ham but the club ‘want to renegotiate the €15m they were prepared to offer, even though the option that Barça had set for purchase was €25m.’
On May 30th, the same newspaper said (screenshot provided): ‘Marlon Santos, one step away from West Ham – Barca will receive a minimum of €15m for him. Although the agreement is not yet closed, as club sources confirmed to this newspaper, the negotiations between Barca and the English team are well on track. West Ham has a deal to reach €18m for the player, starting from a minimum of €15m.’
So what is it? Did Barca want €25m or did they not? Have West Ham dropped their offer or are they just continuing down the line they’ve been on all along?
If Mundo Deportivo can’t get their story straight on this one then it’s a bit much to present the Hammers as the bad guys.
