Back in the early days of the transfer window, Celtic’s Olivier Ntcham to Marseille looked like a real possibility.
After all, the Ligue 1 side were desperate for a new midfielder, but their inability to spend without selling a player first was frustrating for all parties, and the whole transfer window flew by without any incomings in that area of the pitch.
Only when Luiz Gustavo was sold to Fenerbahçe were Marseille able to move on that particular market, and instead of going for the Celtic player, Andoni Zubizarreta turned his attention to an old flame: Nantes’ Valentin Rongier.
A brief but lively transfer saga ensued, one that dragged beyond the transfer deadline on September 2nd, as the club used their ‘joker’ transfer (a rule that allows French clubs to recruit one extra player from another French club outside the normal window) on the 24-year-old.
However, they could have instead bought Ntcham in late August, as La Provence reveal the information in their Sunday edition that ‘intermediaries appointed by Celtic’ offered the Frenchman to Marseille in hope they could make €10-12m from the midfielder’s sale.
Down Marseille’s end, the response was ‘utter silence’, as the club were ‘all in’ on Rongier, eventually signing the Nantes man for €13m with a few extra million on top in bonuses.
Ntcham eventually stayed at Parkhead for the 2019-20 season, where he has been a sporadic starter so far, making 13 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and picking up three assists.
