Transfers – Ligue 1: Nice insists on Bamba Dieng, Pablo Longoria is firm

Throughout the summer or almost, his club pushed him towards the exit. He resisted, didn’t want to know, then ended up making up his mind, accepting the idea of ​​fulfilling himself elsewhere. But finally, the day after the closing of the transfer market, Bamba Dieng is still present in the workforce of Olympique de Marseille. However, his courtiers were not lacking, from Lorient to Leeds, via Nice. In the last hours of the market, the Senegalese international opted for OGCN. Everything finally seemed settled. Except that…

In the evening, the deal fell through. In question: an inconclusive medical examination, which would have revealed, according to Nice morning, knee problems. Which did not fail to surprise the Olympian management. “Nice considers something, our doctor considers something else. Our doctor considers Bamba to be fit, that of Senegal too. He had zero injuries”said Pablo Longoria in front of the press, this Friday.

One thing is certain: the physical glitch noted during the medical tests did not cool the ardor of the Aiglons, always eager to enlist the player from the Diambars academy. “I know that the leaders want to discuss again with Marseille. I know that sometimes it can get stuck. But yes, I want the player”, thus assured Lucien Favre, the Nice coach. “It could not be done yesterday (Thursday, editor’s note). We are looking with Marseille if we can find a different solution”supported its president, Jean-Pierre Rivère.

The Azureans probably hope to register the arrival of Dieng as a joker, which is authorized – although strictly supervised – outside the transfer window. But Longoria, perhaps scalded by this unforeseen outcome, obviously does not hear it that way. “We had reached an agreement, the player wanted to go but it was not recorded. There was an agreement, so there is no negotiation”asserted the Marseille president.

Discarded during most of the summer preparation and absent during the first five days of the championship, the 22-year-old player had not, until then, entered Igor Tudor’s plans at all. Will the fact that he couldn’t leave move the lines? “He will have all the rights of a professional player and it will be up to the coach to decide whether to play him or not, Longoria promises. As we speak, Bamba is an OM player.” A player who is certainly very revengeful, and who only asks that we let him (finally) play again.

(With AFP)