For Michy Batshuayi, currently on loan from Chelsea at Borussia Dortmund in Germany, Marseille wasn’t just a stepping stone in his career.
The former Standard Liège starlet spent two years in the south of France, including one under Marcelo Bielsa, who barely ever spoke to him.
The only time he did, he told him he would one day leave the club for €40m, which is exactly what happened.
The Belgium international sat down with Onze Mondial recently to discuss everything in his career, including his youth, and while his career at Chelsea is still ongoing, the 24-year-old will always fondly remember his time with the Ligue 1 club, which he didn’t really want to leave in the first place.
He said: “No one wants to leave Marseille. It’s hard to do it. But, you know, everyone is aware of the club’s finances and how the club was ran at the time. There was meant to be a change of owner, a lot of things were happening. My exit was unavoidable”.
As for whether or not he see himself ever returning there in the future: “Everything is possible in life. I’m not going to put the words “no” and “Marseille” in the same sentence”.”
During his time there, the Chelsea forward scored 33 goals in 78 games, also assisting his teammates 10 times, which is impressive considering he spent most of his first season there playing second fiddle to André-Pierre Gignac.
