Nothing is going to Olympique de Marseille anymore. While the club came out of a promising pre-season, defeat against Rennes plunged OM into an unexpected crisis, aggravated by the fight between Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe in the locker room. Related from the group, the two players were placed on the transfer market, a decision that weakens the sports sector. For OM, the loss of Adrien Rabiot, brilliant last season, weighs particularly heavy.
In this tense context, some rumors quickly circulated, insinuating that the sanction against the French environment would be only a pretext to precipitate its departure, after the failure of the extension negotiations. A version that Pablo Longoria has strongly challenged in an interview with theAFPgoing so far as to deliver a surprising anecdote involving Véronique Rabiot, the mother and representative of the player.
“Insinuating that is going against the truth and disrespecting people's intelligence. Throughout the month of June, we called Adrien every day, because we absolutely wanted to continue with us ”says President Marseille.
“Before the end of the championship, he was offered an extension, with a salary increase. He had deserved it by his performances and his investment. For me, it was the example of what we wanted to build ”he adds.
“I don't lie”
Longoria continues his explanation by revealing an astonishing scene during the discussions. “We made a first appointment, then a second which could not take place because his representative told us that he was too hot. I don't lie. If we wanted to turn the page, we would have done it in June. »» A revelation that illustrates tensions in the negotiations and the complexity of the Rabiot file.
The Marseille president finally concluded by recalling the logic of his club: “I told him that if he was not convinced, he shouldn't stay. And he decided to stay. And if he was not happy, he could leave in June with a figure decided in a gentleman's agency. »» A frank focus, which aims to dispel doubts.
