The 26-year-old former France youth international has been most strongly linked with Aston Villa and West Ham 

Marseille manager Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed there is Premier League interest in midfielder Morgan Sanson, who has been linked with Aston Villa and West Ham.

Sanson, 26, has made more than 150 appearances for Marseille since signing from Montpellier in the January transfer window four years ago.

He started on Saturday as Marseille were surprisingly beaten 2-1 at home to Nimes, a result which saw them drop to sixth in Ligue 1.

“We’ll see. The transfer window is open, Sanson is a player who is highly rated in England,” Villas-Boas told his post-match press conference. “Officially, we have not received any offers, unless it happened during the match. He is a boy who interests English teams because of his characteristics, and it is possible that something could happen.”

Sanson has previously represented France at under-19 and under-21 level, though he has yet to make his senior international debut.

Marseille’s defeat, coupled with a narrow win for Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, means Villas-Boas and his side are now 10 points off the top of Ligue 1.

They have two games in hand over PSG but could find themselves further adrift of the top after Lyon play Metz on Sunday.

“Sorry to the supporters,” the coach said. “It’s a very heavy defeat, with the series of points we have lost. The supporters must have a lot of patience. We risk losing touch with the teams at the top of the table. Not enough desire, not a good frame of mind, I’m not very happy. I’m very disappointed, I don’t recognise this team.”

Defender Alvaro Gonzalez, in the news once again during the week over his continuing feud with Neymar, was even more blunt in his assessment.

“We can’t do the sh*t we did today,” he said. “We have to respect the shirt, and the least we can do is run, fight on the field. Today, we didn’t do anything. Every day when we lose, we talk about the coach, something else… But that’s not true, the people in charge are us [the players]. When we do sh*t, we lose, because all the teams are good in Ligue 1, as in the Champions League.”