West Ham United sold Emerson Palmieri to Marseille on summer deadline day, and he’s since made two appearances for his new club, including a start in their 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Friday’s edition of La Provence reports the Ligue 1 club paid €1.17m to West Ham to buy the left-back and this is one of the reasons why there’s positivity around his arrival.
The 31-year-old has bounced back at Marseille after leaving West Ham, and La Provence say Hammers supporters are ‘still wondering’ how the club could have accepted to let him leave, especially for €1.17m.
La Provence have found out from a source close to the Premier League club that Emerson ‘fell out of favour’ at West Ham as Graham Potter decided to bet on other players in his position.
When the opportunity to sign the fullback was presented, Roberto De Zerbi’s side wasted no time and quickly sealed the operation.
Emerson won 10 out of 12 duels against Real Madrid, and former Marseille defender Fabien Laurenti was pleased with his display.
“I was surprised and a little worried to see him start because De Zerbi had said he was a little lacking physically. I expected him to suffer a little in that area. In the end, he was the best defender: very good defensively, clean in his ball releases, while also contributing a little offensively. He reassured. I didn’t see him sticking his tongue out. We can rely on his experience and that’s also why he was chosen. A full performance,” he said.
Taking his performances in two games into account, the newspaper asks, ‘are West Ham fans already overwhelmed by regrets?’.
La Provence is a Marseille region newspaper, and there’s obviously a little bias and optimism thrown in.
