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CJ Egan-Riley has spoken about his big Marseille ambitions as the 22-year-old begins a new journey in the South of France.

The 22-year-old moved to Burnley in 2022 from the Manchester City system, having grown up in the city and gone through the youth ranks there. He did make an appearance but wasn’t able to breakthrough into Pep Guardiola’s plans.

Last season he rose to prominence, helping Burnley to earn automatic promotion in the Championship and return to the Premier League.

Despite the successes of The Clarets, Egan-Riley didn’t sign a new deal and therefore gave up a chance of making it in the Premier League this season. Instead he was tempted into a big adventure with Marseille and Roberto De Zerbi.

Footmercato report on what Egan-Riley has said to the French media during his press conference. There’s obviously not a lot of French knowledge of the player’s time at Burnley, but he’s been saying all the right things to win hearts and minds.

Egan-Riley revealed he had a conversation about OM with former Norwich City winger Jonathan Rowe.

The 22-year-old explained that Rowe, who moved to Marseille in August of last year was really keen on the move: “He thought it was a good decision for me to come to Marseille. When I spoke with my agent and my family, I knew it was the club I wanted to go to. It’s the biggest club in France.”

Whilst he knows he’ll face a fight to get into the starting line up, he has big Marseille plans: “I want to impose myself, even if I respect my teammates. There are great players and there will always be competition. But I will give my all every day.”

Egan-Riley could be making his first appearance in a pre-season friendly against Girona in 10 days, in which he’ll want to impress manager Roberto De Zerbi.