Crystal Palace star would welcome move back to former club ‘with great pleasure’

Leaving Marseille after eight years at the club in the summer, Steve Mandanda’s first season at Crystal Palace hasn’t exactly gone to plan.

Starting under Alan Pardew, the French goalkeeper then injured his knee in November on which he needed an operation, and only returned to training earlier this month.

With Wayne Hennessey playing in his stead throughout his injury, there are doubts as to whether the French goalkeeper will automatically return to Crystal Palace’s first-team when he is deemed fit, and rumours of a return to France circulated in the weeks prior and during the January transfer window.

Invited as a guest on RMC Sport’s radio show Team Duga with Christophe Dugarry, the Crystal Palace goalkeeper was asked about a move back to his home country in the summer if Marseille, his former club, came knocking.

He said: “Everyone knows the attachment I have to Marseille. If there were discussions, why not? Really! If something were to happen, it would be with great pleasure. If I have to return to France, it’d be to Marseille and no one else.”

While this is all well and good, the player was quick to point out that ‘no discussions’ were currently taking place regarding his future.

Currently under contract at Selhurst Park until 2019, a move back to Marseille could be seen by many as a step back for the 31-year-old, yet with the ambitious project currently underway at the Ligue 1 club, Mandanda probably wouldn’t see it that way.