Thursday, 9th August, 2012

English outfit West Ham are closing on the signature of Marseille midfield enforcer Alou Diarra, with the player having flown to London for a medical.

The Hammers are thought to have agreed to pay around €2.5M for the 31-year-old, according to multiple reports in France, and he has been offered a two-year contract with Sam Allardyce’s men.

Marseille are on a cost-cutting drive and shedding Diarra’s €300,000 per month salary from the Stade Velodrome wage bill will be welcome for the French giants.


Diarra was a regular under former boss Didier Deschamps last season, playing 34 times in Ligue 1.

The France international joined Marseille only last summer from Bordeaux, costing the south coast side a fee of around €5M.

Diarra has been under contract with an English club before, having been snapped up from Bayern Munich by Liverpool in 2002.

He could not make the breakthrough at Anfield though and departed for his native France on a permanent basis three years later.

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