Olympique de Marseille president Pablo Longoria has emphatically denied allegations that the club engineered Adrien Rabiot`s departure following his recent violent dressing-room altercation with Jonathan Rowe. Longoria stated that the incident alone forced the club`s hand, emphasizing that Rabiot had previously been a central figure in Marseille`s long-term project.
“To insinuate that this was a set-up is to go against the truth and to disrespect people’s intelligence,” Longoria declared. He further added that the club made every effort to retain Rabiot: “Throughout June, we called Adrien every day because we absolutely wanted him to continue with us. Before the end of last season, we offered him a contract extension with a pay rise because he had earned it, both with his on-pitch performances and his off-field commitment. For me, he was the embodiment of what we aimed to build.”
Longoria also disclosed that summer negotiations had progressed but were complicated by Rabiot`s entourage. “We had a first meeting, then a second one that could not take place because his representative told us it was too difficult. I am not lying. If we wanted to move on from him, it would have been much easier to do it in June.”
The OM president emphasized that the midfielder had been granted complete autonomy regarding his future: “I told him that if he wasn’t convinced, he shouldn’t stay. And he decided to stay. If he wasn’t happy, he could have left in June under a gentleman’s agreement for a set figure.”
Rabiot now faces an exit under significantly more turbulent circumstances following what Longoria described as “an event of extreme violence, something unheard of” in the Roazhon Park dressing room. Both Rabiot and Rowe remain on the transfer list as OM prepares for the final phase of the summer transfer window.