During the January transfer period, there was a moment where it seemed like Aston Villa and West Ham United were in a battle to sign Mattéo Guendouzi from Marseille.
The Frenchman wasn’t on the best of terms with Igor Tudor, and Unai Emery, who had him at Arsenal, was trying to sweet talk him to return to England.
However, nothing came of it, but that doesn’t mean Aston Villa and West Ham gave up, as explained by L’Equipe on Monday.
The arrival of Marcelino at the helm of the Ligue 1 side has meant that a 4-4-2 will likely be put in place, with two many men to choose from in midfield from the squad at present.
Guendouzi remains the most valuable of the options that have been there for a while, which is why Marseille still feel he is the best option to be sold to bring in funds if possible.
It’s recalled that the former Premier League footballer doesn’t have the same stock with the club directors as the likes of Valentin Rongier, and he is coming off a ‘frustrating season’ under Tudor.
For Pablo Longoria, the club’s president, he remains a ‘player to sell’, and that’s why Marseille have ‘mandated several agencies to find him a landing spot’ this summer.
At 24 years of age, he is still young with room to grow, and ‘has a certain credit in England’, where the likes of Aston Villa and West Ham have been ‘following him for a long time’.
While nothing appears on the horizon just yet, Marseille do know that August has ‘only just started’, and there is plenty of time ahead for clubs to make a bid.
