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Tottenham + Man United target eyes Euro date
Written by Sawyer | 19th July 2006 | 2 Comment(s)
Olympique Marseille have fired a shot across the bows of Europe's most prestigious clubs by saying that in-demand midfielder Franck Ribery is not for sale - at least not this summer.
''Ribery belongs to Marseille for another four years and his contract has been reassessed,'' Marseille president Pape Diouf told L'Equipe newspaper.
''We are counting on him to make OM a more ambitious club next year.''
''He will stay at Marseille, no matter how high the offers are. Our intentions are to turn down any offer. He will not go.''
Having said that, however, Diouf accepts that Ribery, who shot to prominence following a string of strong performances at the World Cup finals, will eventually leave Marseille, but he insists that the time for such a move is not ripe.
''I am not stubborn,'' he added.
''I understand, and I approve, that a player like Thierry Henry asked himself the question whether or not he wanted to stay with Arsenal after seven years with them.''
''But I struggle to understand when a player like Franck asks himself the question after just one season during which he brought us a lot and we brought him a lot too.''
He continued, ''He is still in a progression phase and Marseille is the ideal place for him to continue doing that.''
''We cannot say that Franck Ribery will never go. We can understand that after two years with us, if he does not feel he has progressed, he is tempted to join a bigger club; but for now the club's ambitions include him staying which is essential.''
The 23-year-old Frenchman has drawn the interest of Arsenal, Chelsea, French champions Lyon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham, who have already signed three players from the French League.
Marseille finished fifth in Ligue 1 last season and are currently playing in the UEFA InterToto Cup.
They were held to a goalless draw at home by Ukrainian side FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. The return leg is on Saturday, with the winner gaining entry to first round of the UEFA Cup.
If they lose and there is no European football to look forward to Diouf may find some offers on the table that would be hard to refuse?
It could be quite possible that Chelsea may make that un-refusable offer which could clear the way for Tottenham to have a bid accepted for Damien Duff.
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Comments
Comment by Purely Devoted Footy fan on Friday 21 July 2006 @ 3:18pm
Comment by bobby on Thursday 20 July 2006 @ 8:37am
One of the most over rated players in the world
Ribery is Class! Duff is class! Best left sided play in Premiership! good Luck to him where ever he goes. Spurs are class.