West Ham could reignite their interest in former Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra, as the 30-year-old has revealed on social media that he has now received clearance from FIFA, allowing him to continue with his career.
https://twitter.com/Lass_Officiel/status/622123804995796992
The Hammers were set to sign Diarra in the winter, after he began training with the club, and a contract agreement was in place. However, football’s world governing body blocked the move following off the field administrative issues concerning his previous club Lokomotiv Moscow.
Former Irons manager Sam Allardyce said earlier this year: ‘He is training with us. I’m not so sure whether we have finalised a deal yet but he is doing a little bit of training with us. The deal is very close to being finalised and, on the basis of where we are with our squad and the injuries, once we have him fit he will be a very good addition based on his previous record as a footballer.’
With the Frenchman now on the hunt for a new club to play his football with, Slaven Bilic may turn to Diarra as an alternative to transfer target Alex Song, with the Cameroonian’s recent ankle injury putting the move in doubt.
Diarra has bags of experience in English football, in addition to his time in Spain, having won the FA Cup with both Chelsea and Portsmouth. He possesses fantastic ball control, and is extremely physical both on and off the ground. Diarra spoke out in February about his situation.
“As long as the conflict is not sorted, FIFA forbid me to play so it’s so frustrating.
“What happened was that I got fired from a club and now I cannot play football. It’s a crazy thing because I’m free.
“Hopefully it can all be resolved and the deal with West Ham can be completed.”
