Ismael Bennacer is still keen on the idea of joining Marseille and they could make a January move for the AC Milan midfielder, according to a report from France.
Bennacer was heavily linked with an exit towards the end of the summer transfer window at the same time as Milan were pursuing names such as Manu Kone of Borussia Monchengladbach and Adrien Rabiot.
His sale would have allowed the Rossoneri management to obtain the necessary liquidity to make other moves, presuming that the fee would have been substantial if not close to his €50m release clause.
Atletico Madrid were the first team to be mentioned in conjunction with a move for Bennacer, who was subsequently left out of the trip to face Lazio even if the club said he was ill, then Marseille emerged as a deadline day possibility.
Nonetheless, the Algerian ended up remaining and now head coach Paulo Fonseca plans to reintegrate him into the team, but it does pose questions about his future beyond this first half of the season.
According to the Marseille-based newspaper La Provence, Bennacer is still enthusiastic about the idea of going to Marseille in January. Roberto De Zerbi is said to have spoken to the Algerian midfielder saying: ‘Play your games, we’ll talk in January’.
The players who come are no better than the old players.
And they want to get rid of the players who are considered bad with worse gambling.