Marseille manager Andre Villas-Boas has offered to resign as the club’s manager after the board went against his wishes and signed Olivier Ntcham.
In his press conference ahead of the Ligue 1 fixture against Lens tomorrow, Villas-Boas said: “I just want to leave Marseille.”
He feels that the signing did not fit the profile of what he was looking for and that the board went against his wishes by persisting with the transfer.
He said: “I have resigned because I don’t agree with the sporting policy of the club. I said no to the signing of Olivier Ntcham. He wasn’t on our list.
“Even for [the exit of] Nemanja Radonjic, I was told at the last moment. I don’t want anything from the club, I don’t want their money.
“I just want to leave. If the answer is no… Well, we’ll keep going.
“I love the club and I love Marseille, but you can’t touch my professionalism.
When I’m offered a guy who has nothing to do with the profile I’m looking for… No. I do not agree with the sporting policy.”
It’s been a difficult time of late for one of France’s most successful teams.
With one win in their last nine matches, they sit ninth in the table and recorded a dismal group stage in the Champions League, winning just once in their six games and finishing bottom.
Fans of the club stormed the training ground last week in protest and there were violent clashes with police officers during the events – defender Alvaro Gonzalez was also reportedly hit on the back with a projectile. It led to their match against Rennes the next day to be postponed.
If Villas-Boas is granted his wish and leaves the club, it could plunge Marseille into further trouble for the remainder of the season.
Dithering in mid-table is not what fans have come to expect of the club and cutting ties with the manager who secured them second spot in the league and a return to the Champions League may, in the long run, have further negative effects on the club.
