It’s fair to say that as far as end of transfer window drama goes, Bamba Dieng’s escapades in the south of France were up there with the best.
Targeted by both Leeds United and OGC Nice, the Marseille forward appeared set to be on his way to Elland Road before Lucien Favre’s side ruined everything.
The Whites had even chartered an airplane to bring the player to Yorkshire, but he decided against it, trying to force a move to the Côte d’Azur instead.
It appeared to be going to plan, until he failed a medical, which made the transfer break down completely, forcing the Senegal international to stay at Marseille, also seeing Leeds’ interest disappear in the process.
The 22-year-old made his first appearance of the season for the French club this weekend, coming off the bench for six minutes against Angers SCO when the game was already wrapped up.
Still, it showed that Igor Tudor does still plan on using him going forward, and Marseille’s president, Pablo Longoria, speaking to La Provence, revealed what has happened since the Leeds and Nice mess at the end of the window.
He said: “He had a very difficult summer. Every time there’s a change, you need to adapt. Some players do it immediately. Others take a bit more time. After what happened on the last day of the window, he has trained very well.
“The natural consequence is that he gained game time. After that, it’s up to the manager to make his decision, but that means that the daily work in training pays off when you want to find you way back into the team.”
