Olympique de Marseille were in the market for defensive reinforcements throughout the window. Even despite the signing of Luiz Felipe early in the window, OM were in the market for another centre-back after the departure of Lilian Brasier, whose loan was cut short before a move to Stade Rennais.
Marseille even reached an agreement with Chelsea over a straight loan for Aaron Anselmino (19), however, that deal broke down at the final hurdle with the transfer deadline rapidly approaching. Another player considered was Aymeric Laporte (30), according to L’Équipe.
Laporte held talks with Medhi Benatia, who convinced the Spain international to make the move to the Vélodrome. However, the deal did not happen due to financial reasons. However, that won’t prevent OM from making another approach for the Al-Nassr centre-back in the summer, when the financial conditions of a deal will be more favourable.
Marseille failed in Rashford approach
As well as Laporte, Benatia also had talks with Al-HIlal’s Kalidou Koulibaly (33) and Jean-Clair Todibo (25), currently on loan at West Ham United from OGC Nice.
In attack, Benatia also reached out to Marcus Rashford (27) to sound out the possibility of a move. However, at that point in time, the England international favoured a move to Barcelona and did not see himself making a move to Ligue 1. He ultimately joined Aston Villa late in the transfer window.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
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