It’s fair to say that Crystal Palace and Marseille aren’t the friendliest of football clubs right now. Last summer Marseille were disapointed to see their goalkeeper, and club captain, Steve Mandanda sign for Palace.
Mandanda’s exit was very much expected, but it was hoped he’d go to a top club, which Crystal Palace weren’t believed to be, so it rubbed it in even more. Then, when it all started going wrong for Mandanda at Palace, an exit made perfect sense… simply go back to Marseille.
Thursday’s edition of L’Equipe accuses Crystal Palace of ‘provocation’ by asking for €8m. Marseille want to pay less than a quarter of that, so it’s a bit of a mess.
But the reporting seems to be confused too.
On Sunday, L’Equipe reported that Crystal Palace’s asking price is €5m, and it’s hard to believe the London club have raised it by 60% in a few days.
If L’Equipe want to paint Crystal Palace as the bad guys in all of this, they need to pick a figure and stick to it. The French media should probably also consider that, since last year, they’ve been reporting Mandanda’s will to return to Marseille, and the goalkeeper’s talks with his former club.
There’s been agreed personal terms for some time, according to L’Equipe, with that even dating back to a time when Mandanda still had a shot at a Crystal Palace future.
