West Ham lead race to sign defender

West Ham are leading the race to sign Lyon defender Samuel Umtiti, according to a report from Sky Sports.

The 22-year-old looks set to leave the Ligue 1 side this summer, and despite links in the past to Barcelona, PSG and Tottenham, it looks like the Hammers are in pole position to sign him.

Umtiti is a central defender who has been capped for France at every level from Under 17s to Under 21s.

Despite never making an appearance for the senior French national side, Umtiti was named in Didier Deschamps’ squad for Euro 2012 as Mamadou Sakho was deemed unavailable for selection after a disputed failed drugs test and both Jeremy Mathieu and Raphael Varane were ruled out with injuries.

The Lyon man is regarded as one of Europe’s best young centre-backs and could replace James Tomkins in Slaven Bilic’s squad with the Englishman looking like he’s on his way out of the club