The imbroglio around Jonathan Clauss is fueling debates within the ranks of Olympique de Marseille.
Nothing is going well at Olympique de Marseille. In the midst of a sporting crisis, the Marseille club parted ways with its coach Gennaro Gattuso to appoint Jean-Louis Gasset as interim until the end of the season. But this restructuring of the technical staff is taking place in an explosive period, where certain players are publicly singled out.
This is the case of Jonathan Clauss. Placed on the transfer market during the winter transfer window, the French international was thrown out to pasture by his managers on several occasions. President Pablo Longoria did not hesitate to question his professionalism. On Sunday, it was the turn of sports advisor Mehdi Benatia to make identical comments.
Longoria gets annoyed: “I didn’t like it! »
Faced with these repeated attacks, the UNFP, the professional footballers’ union, rushed to the aid of Jonathan Clauss by publishing a long official press release on Monday. The body notably considered that the approach of the OM management amounted to harassment. A version that Longoria categorically refutes.
“ Medhi Benatia is my sports advisor and I have full confidence in him. He is currently giving us very important things inside the club. The UNFP? I did not appreciate the press release, said the president of OM. You have to be serious. A serious press release is not written like that. The serious thing is to answer the phone. I called them three times, no answer. The serious thing is to listen to all parties to get an idea. We know that we are not in a good situation but it is not respectful to take advantage of our bad position to act. In Marseille, there is one thing on which we spent a lot of energy, and that is creating the message of the institution. Above the coach, above the players. It’s not negotiable“, concluded the leader.
