If one transfer story captivated audiences on deadline day, it was the absolute mess that was Bamba Dieng’s potential exit from Marseille.
First believing he was going to Lorient, the forward was then approached by Leeds United, with whom both he and the Ligue 1 club allegedly reached an agreement, as per L’Equipe.
Andrea Radrizzani was already boasting about the acquisition on social media, asking fans to welcome the Senegal international, only for OGC Nice to come mess everything up by offering Marseille more money and scuppering the plans at Elland Road.
Leeds had even sent a private jet to pick up the player at Nice airport, but he never stepped foot on it, as L’Equipe explain he instead used his time to close a deal with his team’s rivals.
However, the deal was never fully agreed in time, and fell through.
The decision to ignore the private jet is said to have made Leeds bosses ‘furious’, which is understandable, especially since everything seemed ready.
Their version of events is a tad different, as they state Dieng was ‘aware of Leeds’ interest but never of the offer’, and was never interested in going to the Premier League in the first place, where he felt he would be used as a substitute and wouldn’t progress.
At 8pm, there was an agreement between Dieng, Nice and Marseille of €12m (bonuses included), but at around 10pm, during his medical, La Provence write that the buying club ‘finally cancelled the transfer after finding a problem during the final exams’.
This left OM ‘baffled’, and by the time it was too late, those in charge of the Ligue 1 side were ‘trying to understand what could have blocked’ the green light.
However, there is still a chance the player can move, as France has a ‘joker transfer window’, which allows Ligue 1 clubs to transfer one extra player outside the normal window, as long as it’s between two Ligue 1 clubs.
Therefore, despite deadline day being over, Dieng could still end up at Nice or any other club in France’s top tier, as long as he passes the medical.
For Leeds, however, they ended up signing Wilfried Gnonto right on the gong, having had to move on from the Marseille player earlier on in the day.
