It was one of the sensations of the 2022 World Cup. His talent had broken out in the eyes of the world, and OM had managed a very nice blow by recruiting it. But the story between Azzedine Ounahi and Marseille has never really started. Pushed towards the exit this summer, the Moroccan midfielder joined Girona in Spain. And during his presentation press conference, he wanted to make things clear.
“Playing in a good club”: the spike of Ounahi at OM after his departure
The message is subtle, but it is there. “What I wanted was playing in a good club, beyond money, and enjoying playing football”, said Ounahi. By insisting on his desire to find the
” pleasure ” in a ” good club “he sends a barely veiled spike to his old direction. He implies that in Marseille, the sports project and the pleasure of playing were no longer there for him.
He says to himself ” very happy to be part of this project ” In Girona, a club that “Perfectly corresponds to (sound) style of play“. So many compliments addressed to his new environment that sounds like the old ones. It is the classic speech of the player who needs to feel desired and who has the feeling of not having been.
Ounahi, a spoiled talent that rejects the fault on the club?
A personal failure above all?
But this outing, as smooth as it is, should not hide another reality. If Ounahi has never managed to win OM, it is not just the club's fault. Arrived under Igor Tudor, he saw the coaches parade: Marcelino, Gattuso, Gasset, from Zerbi … and none of them really trusted him. Five coaches, five different visions, and the same observation: the Moroccan never knew how to become an indisputable holder.
Instead of pointing the Marseille project, he could also wonder about his own performances. His talent is undeniable, but he never managed to express it permanently on the Canebière. His departure had become inevitable, for him as for the club. He found a smile in Spain. It remains to be seen whether, in the future, he will also be able to make his self -criticism.
