A Long week.

By: Magnusson | July 11th, 2009

This week as long. A funeral, countless rumors, new signings and our first game of the season to finish it all off.

The Show had to go on
First off Marseille quietly bid farewell to Karim Ziani who decided very early on that he needed to leave Marseille even though he had an incredible second season. The diminutive Algerian signed with German Champions Wolfsburg last Sunday and left Evian Monday morning. Selling for €7 million, it seems like a fair deal but to think that two seasons ago, we were bullied into buying him for eight. But Ziani was good enough this season for us to let him go without it bothering Didier Deschamps too much. It is no secret that the new manager wants our players in the midfield to be a little more powerful, which is why he’s pursuing players like Lucho and Stephane M’bia.

That brings us to the Lorik Cana case. Didier Deschamps never liked him, that’s no secret. When he arrived, he made it clear that three players were his priority, Steve Mandanda, Taye Taiwo and Mamadou Niang. After negotiating with those three, the Ex-France Captain realized how important Cana had become to the fans and the locker room and started backpedalling, saying to him it was evident that Cana would be staying and that he didn’t feel the need to reinforce that opinion. Sure Didier! Now Cana will leave if an offer strong enough comes our way. The player doesn’t feel appreciate and knows he’ll only be fourth choice in the midfield after Cheyrou, Lucho and M’bia if he comes (more on that later). Lorik Cana has been nothing short of exemplary under Fernandez, Emon and Gerets. So Deschamps letting him go is like him letting go of Valbuena, he’s trying to get rid of the players Gerets was using the most. It’s petty but in an atmosphere where the new President’ only hope is that he doesn’t find his office burned down in the morning, Deschamps is pretty much allowed to do as he pleases, and that wouldnt have happened under Diouf.

Anyway, I’m going to say it here once and for all, no matter how great M’bia is, I watched enough Rennes games and personally met the guy to know that he’s playing for M’bia and that’s it. He doesn’t give a shit about where he plays as long as he’s getting paid. That’s the mercenary mentality I don’t like and that’s why I love Lorik Cana, who was always a guarantee in our lineup. I hope I’m wrong on his one but I think we’re just messing up trying to fix something that’s not broke just yet.

I would also like to give credit to Jose Anigo. We all know how close he grew to like Pape Diouf (after an initial period where the two didn’t trust each other) and even linked his future to his President’s. And after hesitating a long time, it took all of Diouf’s clout to convince the Minot to stay at Marseille. And as much as people love to bash on him, he stayed quiet and will work withg Deschamps, a man he loathes. The truth is that for many people in Marseille, and eve me, Deschamps has been flirting way too close with a period of our history that brought us trophies but also hurt the club so bad I’d rather it never happened (okay, not really but you get my point). Anigo said before Deschamps came in that some people soiled the club and left them (the real Marseillais) the pieces to fix while reaping the benefits of the glorious trophy won in 1993. Anyway, Anigo is the club now. No if’s but’s and maybe’s. Anigo has managed to buy impressive players as he was given a little more leeway. We now know that they started talking with Lucho last season and talked when Argentina came in Marseille to play opposite France in February. So much for the Deschamps juice theory.
Anyways, Anigo managed to sell at a great price players that were not wanted in Marseille anymore, Djibril Cissé (€8.5 million to Galatasaray), Ronald Zubar (€4 million to Wolverhampton), Karim Ziani (7.5 to Wolfsburg), Gaël Givet (€4 million to Blackburn), without taking into account a million from both Bayern Munich and Arsenal who both qualified for the next Champions League. And Samassa will be sold to either Grenoble or Montpellier by the beginning of the season. Add that to the €46 million we received in TV rights, Marseille is in great economical shape, and Anigo is making a hell of a lot of smart moves for someone supposed to be incompetent.

And their ambitions have not gone unnoticed as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the man Karim Benzema is replacing in Madrid stopped by on Thursday to negotiate with our staff for an eventual move to Marseille when everyone had him already signing with Stuttgart. And let’s be clear, this is NOT a rumor, it’s and ACTUAL Information. Huntelaar was in Marseille. Now nothing has filtered from the meetings but we know he went to see the Commanderie training grounds (empty but still) and the stadium. Even if I don’t see Huntelaar succeeding in France, It would be an interesting signing.

A Quiet Funeral on Wednesday