With Adrien Rabiot, OM is preparing to welcome not only a top-level international midfielder, undisputed in the national team and at club level, but also a former Parisian Titi, trained at Paris Saint-Germain, where he won six French championship titles. A nice snub to a 30-year-old rival who will bring even more spice to the first OM-PSG Classic of the season, at the Vélodrome, on October 27.
From Paris to Marseille more often than the other way around
A Parisian player who dares to wear the jersey of the rival club is nothing new. The reverse is also true, especially in the 90s and 2000s. Many players (46) have worn the jerseys of both clubs, even if, with the exception of Lassana Diarra or Hatem Ben Arfa, the phenomenon had become rarer in recent years, particularly due to the gap in level and financial base that separates the two teams since QSI’s arrival at the head of the capital club.
But Rabiot’s upcoming transfer accentuates a historical trend that sees players who have moved from PSG to OM (slightly) outnumber them (24) by Olympians who left the Phocaean city to join the capital (22). For some of these players, such as Lorik Cana or Gabriel Heinze, two players labeled PSG at the time of their departure, because one was trained there and the second remained a loyal supporter of his favorite club, the journey to Marseille was accompanied by turbulence.
Of course, the Albanian immediately took to Marseille, but Parisian supporters at the time took badly the rather unexpected and abrupt departure of a manager trained at the club. The Argentinian Gabriel Heinze, like Patrick Colleter, had the good idea of moving to other clubs (Manchester United, Real Madrid) before being brought back to Ligue 1 by Didier Deschamps. But his signing for OM a few years later still left a bitter taste in the mouth of Parisian supporters.
Fiorèse’s Nightmare
Legends from both clubs have also played under the colours of the rival club without being held against them, also because the antagonism between the two rivals was not as intense as it later became. Jocelyn Angloma can testify to this, having played a season in Paris before flying to Marseille in 1991, where he would win the Champions League with OM two years later.
Former PSG central defender Bruno N’Gotty, who scored the winning goal that gave Paris Saint-Germain its only European trophy to date in 1996, relaunched his career at OM in 2000, after two seasons in Italy. A transfer that ended in failure. The same goes for Liberian Ballon d’Or winner George Weah, recruited in 2000, but the latter was at the end of his career.
Fabrice Fiorèse’s return was probably, by far, the most stormy for a former Parisian at the Parc des Princes. The reception he received that day by the Parisian supporters rose to a level of hostility rarely seen, even bordering on hatred. A nightmare that he had returned to with the daily newspaper The Team.
“Psychologically, I was ready to see unbelievable, unimaginable things. An hour and a half before the match, the OM staff told me not to go onto the pitch, but I told them: ‘You brought me to the club, I’m going to go onto the pitch and do as usual’.”
Rabiot may fear a certain hostility from the Parc towards him, but times have changed, and several months will separate his transfer from the return match at the Parc des Princes, scheduled for March.
Some examples of players who moved from PSG to OM
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George Weah: PSG from 1992 to 1995 and OM in 2000-2001
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Édouard Cissé: PSG from 1997 to 2007 and OM from 2009 to 2011
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Daniel Bravo: PSG from 1989 to 1996 and OM from 1998 to 2000
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Frédéric Déhu: PSG from 2000 to 2004 and OM from 2004 to 2009
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Fabrice Fiorese: PSG from 2001 to 2004 and OM in 2004-2005
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Pascal Nouma: PSG from 1994 to 1996 and OM in 2001-2002
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Jérôme Leroy: PSG from 1992-1999 then OM from 2000 to 2002 and return to PSG in 2002-2003
Some examples of players who moved from OM to PSG
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Jean Djorkaeff: OM from 1966 to 1970 and PSG from 1970 to 1972
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Bruno Germain: OM from 1988 to 1991 then PSG from 1991 to 1993 and return to OM in 1994-1995
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Peter Luccin: OM from 1998 to 2000 then PSG in 2000-2001
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Lassana Diarra: OM in 2016-2017 then PSG in 2018-2019
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André Luiz: OM in 2001-2002 and PSG in 2002-2003
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Peguy Luyindula: OM in 2004-2005 then PSG from 2007 to 2012
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Hatem Ben Arfa: OM from 2008 to 2011 then PSG from 2016 to 2018
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Claude Makelele: OM in 1997-1998 and PSG from 2008 to 2011
- RMC Sport
