After months of negotiating, with first contacts established towards the end of last season, Marseille managed to sign Iliman Ndiaye from Sheffield United.
The forward, despite first rejecting a move to his dream club, eventually succumbed to their sirens chants, and was welcomed as a hero ahead of his medical and contact signing.
Having now left Sheffield United for good, on good terms might we add, he was officially presented to the media on Monday, where he was asked about the transfer, with his answers relayed by Foot Mercato.
It’s worth pointing out that the Blades and Paul Heckingbottom did everything in their power to keep the Senegal international at Bramall Lane, but it just wasn’t enough.
Having already made his debut in a friendly, he remembered that feeling and then explained why he initially had doubts about the move when he was back at Sheffield United.
He said: “I needed time to think. My family are in England, I have a baby and I had to be sure that this decision was the right one. I’m very proud of my choice. I’ve never played football for money. I know nothing other than football. I chose Marseille because they are the club of my heart. There was no other club.”
Now with the Ligue 1 side, Ndiaye will get a chance to play alongside the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who, like him, left England, in his case Chelsea, to try and help Marseille get back to a title winning potential.