Former West Ham and France World Cup defensive midfielder Alou Diarra is training with Albion.

The Seagulls are assessing the fitness of the 33-year-old ex-Liverpool colleague of manager Sami Hyypia, who can be signed outside the transfer window as he is a free agent.

Diarra has been without a club since July, when the year remaining on his contract with West Ham was cancelled by mutual consent.

He only played six games for Sam Allardyce’s Hammers, the last in a 3-0 home defeat by Manchester City in the Capital One Cup in January, after arriving from Marseille for £2 million in August 2012.

His ill-fated stay in East London included a loan stint with Rennes.

Diarra told French newspaper L’Equipe after parting company with the Hammers: “I feel I have lost two years in a career, it counts. There was no solution. I was very ill-advised.

“I left Marseille very determined, with an international status, to bring my experience of the Champions League, the big games.

“I arrived at a club whose coach did not count on me. The dice were loaded from the start.”

The combative Diarra was booked 11 times in his final season with Marseille in 2011-12 following spells with Bayern Munich’s reserves and Liverpool.

He spent three years at Anfield on the books with Hyypia during the reign of Gerard Houllier without making a first team appearance and was loaned out to Le Havre, Bastia and Lens.

He joined Lens permanently for around £2.5 million and went on to play also for Lyon and Bordeaux.

Diarra’s 44 caps for France included appearances at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and captaining his country.

Hyypia believes he could add nous to a midfield lacking experience since the summer departure of Keith Andrews and a second serious knee injury suffered by Andrew Crofts.