West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed that the club will not be signing former Chelsea midfielder Lassana Diarra.
The French midfielder has been without a club since leaving Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow in August and has not played a professional game in almost nine months.
The 29-year-old has attracted a huge number of clubs but was reported to be on the verge of joining West Ham after talks were initiated in January.
However, despite training with the club, Diarra will not be moving to Upton Park, confirms boss Sam Allardyce.”I have to say we have waited and we have negotiated for weeks to get the right deal and now we’ve got it, we find we can’t get the right paperwork and the right clearance, so we have wasted his time and our time,” he told ESPN.
“On the basis of the situation we’re in right now, he would have been a very crucial player for us between now and the end of the season.”