It was the bomb that animated the evening of Sunday, September 15. Free of any contract, Adrien Rabiot is about to join Olympique de Marseille. A big coup in perspective for the Phocéens who will recover an experienced player accustomed to the highest level and vice-world champion 2022. A significant reinforcement who has the particularity of being a player who has passed and even trained by Paris Saint-Germain. Between 2010 with the young Ile-de-France players until 2019 and his departure for Juventus, Adrien Rabiot had this status of “titi” who, if he faded at the end of his Parisian adventure, offered him a membership to PSG. From now on, the native of Saint-Maurice will have to have a new status, that of traitor.
Father of world champion Youri Djorkaeff, Jean Djorkaeff, had a great career in the 1960s/1970s. Having moved to Olympique du Marseille between 1966 and 1970, he won the 1969 Coupe de France and was vice-champion of France in 1970. Following this, he joined Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 1970, becoming the Parisian club’s first professional player. Although he was the first to make the move between the two clubs, he was not really considered a “traitor” since the rivalry between the two clubs was born in the 1990s. However, 51 players have made the move from one club to the other (52 when Adrien Rabiot’s arrival was official) and some transfers have been more significant than others.
The precursors
While the rivalry between OM and PSG grew in the 1990s, paradoxically, it was during this period that transfers between the two clubs were the most numerous. Thus, Jocelyn Angloma who had just come off a good season at Paris Saint-Germain, left the capital club in the summer of 1991. A choice that paid off since he would shine in the Phocaean city and even win the Champions League in 1993. The same summer, it was Bruno Germain who made the same journey. Triple champion of France with OM, the striker left for Paris Saint-Germain where things did not necessarily go very well. After two years in the French capital, he left for a year in Angers before completing a final stint… At Olympique de Marseille. Having left OM after a year for Paris Saint-Germain in 1991, Laurent Fournier He would have more success with the Franciliens, whose jersey he would wear until 1998, playing 195 matches, winning the French championship title in 1994 and notably winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996.
The following year in 1992, Alain Roche will have a destiny similar to that of Laurent Fournier. After a short stint in Marseille, he will mainly leave his mark on the Parisian club until 1998 with 151 matches under his belt and a notable importance in the successes of the Parisian club. The two men will even have occupied positions of coach and manager at PSG afterwards. A striking defender for Paris Saint-Germain with whom he will win the 1994 French Championship and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996, Patrick Colleter will bounce back between 1997 and 1999 on the Marseille side interspersed with a stint in Bordeaux. An indelible stain for the one who will have marked the Ile-de-France club between 1991 and 1996. A scenario reminiscent of that of Daniel Bravo. The striker who wore the Parisian jersey between 1989 and 1996 was one of the strong men of PSG but he also did a stint at Olympique de Marseille at the end of his career during the 1998/1999 season. Another Parisian legend, “the king” George Weah will have an end of adventure near. The 1995 Ballon d’Or who will have spent three great years at Paris Saint-Germain between 1992 and 1995 before continuing his legend at AC Milan will also have a stint at the end of his career at Marseille in 2000/2001.
Notable betrayals
A fairly rare specimen like Bruno Germain, Jerome Leroy will have the distinction of having played for both clubs and returning to play with one of the two teams. Trained at Paris Saint-Germain and revealed between 1995 and 2000, he then decided to join OM in the winter of 2000. A two-year stint for the attacking midfielder who left in the winter of 2002 for… Paris Saint-Germain. A rather incredible coming and going for him in this period of high rivalry. In 2000, Bruno Ngotty joined OM while he was signed to Paris Saint-Germain (1995-1998). A mixed stint for him who quickly went to the English side of Bolton Wanderers. Then a young talent at Olympique de Marseille, Stephane Dalmat will leave the Marseille club after a promising first season for Paris Saint-Germain along with Peter Luccin. The two men will not mark their passage in the capital and will leave respectively after 6 months and a year. The following season, the goalkeeper Jerome Alonzo joined Paris Saint-Germain after a stint at AS Saint-Étienne. Formerly of Olympique de Marseille, it was in the French capital where he would experience more exposure, more often in a role as a luxury understudy. In the summer of 2002, Andre Luiz joined PSG after a successful loan spell at Olympique de Marseille. However, his status as a former Phocéen and the pressure that came with it precipitated his departure after a year.
The summer of 2004 will be a turning point in the OM-PSG rivalry. Then captain of the Parisian club, the midfielder Frederic Dehu will leave Paris Saint-Germain with a Coupe de France and an Intertoto Cup in his luggage following a second place in Ligue 1. A good mark that will be immediately tarnished by his departure to Olympique de Marseille. Claiming his love for Paris Saint-Germain upon his arrival in 2000, his “betrayal” for OM four years later will not be at all appreciated by the people of Paris who will insult him and whistle him ferociously. On the other hand, it is nothing compared to Fabrice Fiorèse. If the Phocaean reception for Frédéric Déhu was not cold, that for the Parisian striker the same summer was terrible. Immediately hated by both camps, he would only play 19 matches with the Phocaeans and would be loaned to Qatar to Al-Rayyan and to Lorient afterwards. The following year, another movement hurt the Parisians, it was that of Lorik Cana. The defensive midfielder trained in the French capital will quickly shine, but will leave the team following disagreements with coach Laurent Fournier. He will sign for Olympique de Marseille in 2005 and will show his attachment to the Marseille club with which he is more often identified from now on. He will also be twice vice-champion of France with the Phocéens.
Recent cases
The next season is Modest M’Bami who left PSG after three seasons to join Olympique de Marseille directly. A solid passage where he will have shown things similar to his Parisian experience. During the 2007/2008 season, Paris Saint-Germain will offer two former Marseillais with Peguy Luyindula And Zoumana Camara. The first, who was coming out of two loans at Auxerre and Levante, had never been able to confirm the good things shown at Olympique Lyonnais. On the Paris Saint-Germain side, he will completely relaunch his career with 180 appearances for 37 goals and won the 2008 League Cup and the 2010 French Cup. For Zoumana Camara, his time at Marseille was more anecdotal for the one who was more identified with AS Saint-Étienne. In 2007, he joined PSG where he would end his career in 2015 crowned with three Ligue 1 titles. He was also an assistant coach and in youth teams at PSG afterwards.
If his career is represented by Nantes, Real Madrid and Chelsea as a priority, Claude Makelele wore the Marseille jersey in 1997/1998 and that of PSG between 2008 and 2011, the date of his end of career. During the 2009/2010 season, Marseille will be champion of France with two former Parisians in the squad with Edouard Cisse And Gabriel Heinze. The first played 10 years at Paris Saint-Germain between 1997 and 2007 but joined OM in 2009 to join Didier Deschamps, a coach with whom he reached the 2004 Champions League final with Monaco. The second, who spent three years at PSG between 2001 and 2004, then travelled to Manchester United and Real Madrid. An idol at the Parc des Princes when he was at Paris Saint-Germain, the Argentinian broke part of his ties with PSG but won Ligue 1 in 2010 and the Coupe de la Ligue in 2010 and 2011.
Finally, among the most recent, we can think of Hatem Ben Arfa spent at Olympique de Marseille between 2008 and 2011 who then played in England (Newcastle and Hull City) before relaunching at Nice and then joining Paris Saint-Germain between 2016 and 2018. Author of a crazy 2015/2016 season with Olympique de Marseille, Lassana Diarra had finally left the Phocéens for the United Arab Emirates and a stint at Al-Jazira Club. Free in the winter of 2018, he then joined the Parisian club for the last stint of his career without much success. There is also Benjamin Stambouli even if his time at OM remains short and during his training (1996/1997). The defensive midfielder had joined Paris Saint-Germain for a season during the 2015/2016 season. Latest to date, Mattéo Guendouzi had a fairly similar trajectory. Having spent time at Paris Saint-Germain between 2005 and 2014 before playing for FC Lorient, Arsenal and Hertha Berlin, the midfielder will join Olympique de Marseille in the summer of 2021. Quickly identifying with the Marseille club, he left it definitively this summer for Lazio where he had played last year on loan.
