Asked to react to Adrien Rabiot's debut in the colors of Olympique de Marseille, Mathieu Valbuena explained on Wednesday why he would never have signed for Paris Saint-Germain after his time with rival Marseille.
At the end of his contract at Juventus during the summer, Adrien Rabiot took his time before taking on a new challenge. Without a club in September, the international midfielder then joined OM and quickly acclimatized there in Ligue 1 despite his past as a player trained at PSG. A situation that Mathieu Valbuena could never have experienced after his great history in the Marseille club.
“I would never have wanted to go to Paris. Because, for me, Paris is really the rival. Whether it's sporting or extra-sporting, there's everything”, revealed, to the broadcaster Free, the one who played at OM between 2006 and 2014. “When I was at Lyon – even if I know that there was a sporting rivalry (with OM) – it was not a club that we hated.”
Valbuena hails Rabiot “good deal” at OM
Legend in Marseille, Mathieu Valbuena then tried to relaunch in Lyon for two seasons. Not without triggering the anger of Olympian supporters, who even hung a mannequin in his likeness during an Olympico. But the former international midfielder with 52 caps had no problems with OL, only with PSG.
“Afterwards there were controversies from Aulas, there were a lot of things which meant that we no longer really liked this club in Marseille,” continued the man who still plays at the age of 40 for the Marseille side. 'Athens Kallithea FC in Greece. “But Paris has always been like that. We have always hated Paris Saint-Germain.”
Before saluting the success and adaptation of Adrien Rabiot at OM despite his past as a PSG titi: “I think Adrien Rabiot had personality. But it's a good sporting deal for Olympique of Marseille.”
