One season and then gone. Recruited by Olympique de Marseille in 2024 in the form of a loan, Jonathan Rowe was transferred permanently to the Olympians in exchange for around €16 million. But the 22-year-old English winger did not last long at Canebière. After 3 goals and 4 assists in 31 matches, Rowe was pushed towards the exit at the start of the 2025 summer transfer window. His altercation with Adrien Rabiot at the end of Rennes-OM ended up precipitating his departure to Bologna. Marseille also negotiated this resale well since the club led by Pablo Longoria recovered €19.5 million in this operation, and will benefit from 10% on a future resale.
Still not decisive
For his part, Rowe said he was satisfied to have bounced back in Emilia-Romagna. “I am very happy to be here. For me, this is an important step in my career. I’m ambitious, I can’t wait to get involved. Everyone in the team is very strong, they welcomed me well and helped me integrate (…) It’s a football very different from English and French football. I was surprised and impressed by the atmosphere at Dall’Ara. I saw so much passion. I want to create wonderful memories here with the team and the fans.” But today, where is the former Marseillais? Let’s start with the balance sheet.
Rowe has participated in seven matches (0 goals, 0 assists) out of the eleven played by his team since his arrival. And the Englishman is far from being a starter. In seven appearances, he has only two starts (1 in Serie A, 1 in the Europa League) and an average playing time of 31 minutes per match. On October 1, his coach, Vincenzo Italiano, took stock after Rowe’s first start against Lecce. “I don’t know what you expected. I enjoyed his first half at Lecce. He needs time to adjust and I didn’t expect anything better than what I saw. I think that in a few weeks, he will score goals, lose fewer balls and improve the quality of his game..
Substituted 22 minutes after coming on
Since then, Italiano has had to step aside, suffering from pneumonia (he left the hospital a few days ago) and was replaced by his deputy, Daniel Niccolini. And it didn’t get better. On October 26, Rowe had a bad evening. Entering in the 64th minute of the match against Fiorentina (2-2), he was replaced twenty-two minutes later (86th). When his number was displayed, the Englishman clearly showed his displeasure: ostentatious gestures of disappointment, returning to the bench with his head lowered, a sullen face and kicking a ball placed at the edge of the field which ended up in the stands. “It’s not always easy to get into the players’ heads. At that moment, we felt that we had to make this choice: we will certainly talk about it tomorrow”declared Niccolini after the meeting. Since then, Rowe has not participated in the last Serie A match against Torino (0-0). But all is not lost. The Corriere dello Sport announced in today’s edition that Jonathan Rowe could have another chance to shine during the match against Parma in two days.
The reason? Argentinian winger Benja Dominguez was not good against Torino. “Looking back, we have the impression that Bologna played the last 28 minutes with ten men. Between his entry into play and the final whistle, Benjamin Dominguez contributed little to the team »writes the newspaper which wonders if Rowe’s absence during the last match is due to a desire to put Dominguez back in the saddle or a punishment following the Englishman’s sulking during his replacement in Florence. Nevertheless, the newspaper ensures that Rowe really has a card to play despite his sluggish start. “Rowe may need more rigorous supervision to progress. It’s a problem, but we must not forget that Bologna needs Rowe, not so much to make an investment of twenty million euros profitable, but because he has the technical and physical potential to become another Ndoye on the left flank, even if the Swiss is more defensive than the Englishman. » Rowe’s turn!
