From leading 2-0 against Strasbourg, Marseille ended up sharing the spoils on Saturday as the last-minute goal from Kevin Gameiro put more misery on Igor Tudor’s shoulders.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Tudor expressed disappointment with the result. As quoted by L’Équipe, the Croat remarked:

“I’m particularly sad and obviously disappointed. In the first half, we were supposed to lead 5-0, but in the end, it was only 2-0 at the break, and it wasn’t enough. It’s not a question of pressure, we have to kill the game. If we stay behind the ball properly, the opponent has no way of scoring those two goals. We conceded two goals too easily. I’m not angry with my players, but I am angry.”

The goals from Bamba Dieng and Issa Kaboré placed OM in a much more favourable position at the end of the first half, but Lebo Mothiba’s finish in the second half brightened the chances for the hosts, who found their way back into the game, courtesy of the goal from Gameiro. OM, currently fifth on the Ligue 1 points table, have been without a win in the last four league fixtures.

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L’Équipe report this evening that Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Fabián Ruiz will be unavailable for the team’s final two games before the World Cup, having picked up a muscle injury in yesterday’s Champions League win over Juventus.

The former Napoli man started the match in Turin but was forced off after just 20 minutes. The leg muscle issue means that he will skip the league matches against Lorient on Sunday and Auxerre the weekend after, at least.

It remains to be seen whether the Spanish international – who has yet to be called up by Luis Enrique this year – will be able to recover in time for the World Cup.

Since making the move from Italy this summer, the 26-year-old has established himself as a fixture in Christophe Galtier’s revamped three-man midfield, impressing alongside Marco Verratti and another new signing in Vitinha. He has 12 appearances so far, but is yet to find the net.

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According to L’Équipe Morocco attacking midfielder Amine Harit is now likely to miss the World Cup at the last minute after suffering a serious knee injury against Monaco on Sunday evening.

In the 58th minute, while pressing high in the Monaco half, the 25-year-old Moroccan international, who played well in the first half, twisted his left knee on a contact with Monegasque defender Axel Disasi. After which, he went down in an awful lot of pain.

Both teammates and manger Igor Tudor spoke about the unfortunate injury; with the Croatian coach sayingl “From what we know, it is a very serious injury” and Jordan Veretout dedicating the win for him “I don’t know what’s exactly wrong iwth hime, but I think it’s pretty serious. This win is for him.”

The likely miss of Amine Harit to Morocco’s World Cup prospects is devastating. They play Croatia on 23rd November, followed by Belgium on 27th November, with their final group fixture taking place on 1st December against Canada. 

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Krépin Diatta (23) has fought simply to be a part of this World Cup. Just three months into his AS Monaco career, the winger suffered an ACL injury just minutes after scoring his first Ligue 1 goal against Lille. He consequently suffered the heartbreak of missing Senegal’s successful Africa Cup of Nations campaign, whilst the timeline given for his return even put his participation in the Qatar World Cup in doubt. 

Diatta returned on the opening gameweek of the season and marked it with a spectacular goal against Strasbourg. Reintegrated into the squad at club and national level, the former Club Brugge man now has a crucial role to play. Speaking in a round-table interview with Get French Football News’ Luke Entwistle, Diatta spoke about his road to recovery, the pressure of heading into the tournament as champions of Africa, and his close relationship with Sadio Mané, whose absence he must now try to mitigate. 

After your injury, is it special to compete in a World Cup? 

It is. It’s a very special feeling because the World Cup was in the corner of my mind. I wanted to do a lot for AS Monaco as well because there were a lot of matches before the World Cup. The injury that kept me away from the pitch for 6/7 months was difficult. The most important thing for me was working hard to come back during the pre-season and start the new campaign with the team. I managed to do that and I’m very happy. 

After the injury, was the objective to be fit for the World Cup? 

Yes, it was an objective. The first one was to bounce back well in pre-season though and to start the season. I told myself that, for the World Cup, there was still time. But if I’m not coming back in pre-season and then not getting into the group, not starting matches at the start of the season, I don’t think I’ll be able to think about a World Cup. Today, the sacrifices I’ve made, and the club has helped me as well, have helped me realise my objective. I am back where I want to be. 

Did missing the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) success also further motivate you to make the World Cup squad? 

Of course. It really hurts to miss the AFCON, especially since I had played in one when I was younger, and it went really well for me personally. It was a shame we lost the final that year, but it was a good experience for me because I was the Young Player of the Tournament in this competition. It was a shame just one month out from the 2022 tournament to sustain my injury and miss it. I had played practically all the qualification matches and that hurt. We had a task in Cameroon, and it’s a bit of a shame, but the most important thing is that we’re champions of Africa. 

Despite your injury, Aliou Cissé still wanted to take you to the Africa Cup of Nations, and he still made sure that you were at the celebrations… 

Yeah. He even called me when he released his list (for the tournament)  and said that it was a big shame. He said that he still wanted to take me, even if I couldn’t play, but I said not to do that. For example, if it doesn’t go well, people are going to be jumping on you. I’m a player, and I want to be there, but take a player that will be able to play, be able to train, and that will give you more. I said that if I was there, I would have only sat on the bench and I won’t be of use to you. He then said that, if he takes me, it’s only natural because I’d played practically all the qualifying matches, and so I’d helped us qualify, and so he wanted to take me. But I said no. I knew that if I had gone, it could have gone badly. Luckily, he listened to me and let me stay here and work with my club and come back as quickly as possible. 

He is a bit different, Cissé. Not many coaches would take you along when you’re injured…

He is. He is a coach who brings the group together. You don’t see any separation within the national team. It’s like a family, we’re always laughing, and everyone teases each other. The group lives well together, and it’s exactly what the coach wants. He tried to create that and that has worked and we’re now the champions of Africa. 

Are you going there to win the World Cup? 

All kids growing up want to win the World Cup. The most important thing is to take things match by match. I think that’s the most important thing. You’re going to play all the biggest teams so we can’t say now that we’re going to win it. It’s very difficult, even the big teams won’t say that. It’s by turning up and fighting together that the results come. 

Is there pressure going into the tournament given that you’re champions of Africa? 

Of course. Having won the AFCON, lots of people will have expectations. We can’t hide from that, but we are a humble team and we’re not going to say that the World Cup is ours for the taking. No, if we go into the tournament with that mindset with this state of mind, we’ll lose ourselves. We’re playing against huge teams that also have thoughts about winning it. 

What are your personal ambitions? 

My ambition is to do a lot better here. I want to make my mark in Monaco, and at the World Cup. That’s something I have in mind. 

You came back quite quickly. At the end of last season, did Cissé want to call you up? 

He wanted to bring me back to the national team, but I told him I know how I feel. I felt that I had taken myself to the next level in my recovery. But I said give me more time because I wanted to work more here and If I come back to the national team, I won’t be doing so at 110%. That isn’t good for me. I said when I come back, I want to be at 100% then I can give you what you want from me. I’m not coming back to not be ready, and playing just at the end of matches isn’t interesting. It is better for you to take a player that is really ready. So I refused, I said I wanted to continue working with AS Monaco, and that when I’m ready, I’ll tell you. 

Do you feel strong today? 

I think I have got more muscle. I haven’t gained weight and that has helped me as well. Often with injuries like that, you can gain a bit of weight, but that wasn’t the case with me. Even here, they asked me how it was possible. I was well accompanied by the club. I was basically told exactly what to eat, and what I shouldn’t eat and I respected all of that. I often speak with Sadio, and he told me to be aware of what I eat during this period. You mustn’t tell yourself that you’re not playing this season, so from now until the end of the season, you can do whatever. It’s here where you find out if a player is serious or not. It all depends on you. Obviously, I’m a young player and it’s the first time I have had a big injury and he explained a lot to me. When I went to see him during World Cup qualification, he asked to see my legs, and he told me that I had worked well. 

Has the injury aged you a bit mentally? Would you say you are more mature now? 

When you have an injury like that, something clicks in your head, and you have to get past it. It’s true that for the first two months, I didn’t want to know anything. I was really angry with myself, asking how I could have done this because when I got injured, I even continued playing. It was at half-time that I tried to get up and I realised my knee was moving I told the doctor, and he replied that the medical results probably won’t be good. When the news came, I wasn’t good for a couple of months. But I told myself that if I stay in this mindset, that won’t help me. So I told myself that I had to stay positive. When I arrived here for recuperation, I saw the atmosphere that was here, the group was doing well, the dynamic was good, we were winning matches and I think all of that helped me. I saw positive things here, so I told myself that I have to be positive too. 

Did having Philippe Clement, a manager that knows you, here as well help you? 

He often tells me that I’m coming back from a big injury so sometimes he’ll need to let me breathe. It’s a good thing because I know him from before and he knows me. From the start, he always came to speak to me, even though he knew I wouldn’t play before the end of the season. He would come and chat with me at the treatment table. All that made me want to fight to come back as quickly as possible. 

What do you make of your group? 

Sometimes I hear people say that ours is an open group, but that we should make it through. That’s what people on the outside will say, but we mustn’t fall into that. That’s the danger. I don’t think there is one easy group in a World Cup. Every team that is there got there somehow. Firstly, we need to put in the work in the first three matches and after that, we’ll see what we can do.

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Could Keylor Navas replace an injured Manuel Neuer? According to Foot Mercato, he may be a good secondary option to bring back Alexander Nübel who is currently on loan with AS Monaco. Get French Football News covered the option of recalling Nübel in detail, but as in most things in football, nothing is certain until it is done. 

Even though Navas has not played a minute since the arrival of Christophe Galtier at PSG this season, the thought of the capital club allowing Bayern to take away one of the best backup goalkeepers in the world, before their Champions League match, difficult to navigate. In reality this may be more of a third or fourth option for the German club. 

Navas was able to get minutes during the World Cup, and plenty of practice while the Costa Rican defense allowed a flurry of shots on goal during each match. Navas’s situation at PSG is unfortunate for someone of his quality, but this move seems unlikely.  

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As reported by L’Équipe, Europa League knockout-round participants and Ligue 1 relegation candidates FC Nantes have opened negotiations with Russian 1st division side Lokomotiv Moscow over the possible transfer of Guinean international attacker François Kamano.

The 26-year-old attacker could return to Ligue 1 after 2.5 years away, following his last stint in the league with then top division side Girondins de Bordeaux.

Lokomotiv are very open to selling the player in the January window, as he only has 6 months left on his current contract.

The Nantes board are seeking to add another versatile attacking talent to their ranks to fight against the drop to Ligue 2, who can play centrally and on the flanks, with 4 teams being relegated this season as the French top flight goes from having 20 participants in it to just 18. They currently sit level on points with teams in the relegation zone.

Les Canaris are hoping to fight off competition for the player, with a number of foreign outfits also interested in his profile – thus, they are seeking to get a deal completed several weeks in advance of the January window opening.

James Thorpe | GFFN

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This is taken from the GFFN 100, our leading 150-page FREE publication ranking the best 100 players in France, see the full list and read every profile right here.

“I thought I was watching Cafu at one point”. High praise indeed for any defender to receive, but particularly from a footballing connoisseur like Thierry Henry. The compliment that came Chancel Mbemba’s way – after Marseille’s match against PSG – gives an indication of the quality that the defender has shown since his arrival on the south coast.

When Marseille brought in the DR Congo international on a free transfer in the summer, it looked like a great piece of business and his performances to date have borne this out. Arriving at the Velodrome with a wealth of experience and success behind him, including spells in England and Portugal, Mbemba has not missed a minute of Ligue 1 action and has established himself as the patron of the OM backline.

Having moved from Kinshasa to Anderlecht at 18, he quickly broke into the first team and became a mainstay of the club’s defence for two seasons, during the first of which he made 35 appearances and weighed in with five goals as he helped the club to a league title. His performances attracted Newcastle and he immediately made a place for himself in the Magpies’ first team, starting 33 matches, albeit in a season which ended with relegation to the Championship. In the following season, which saw Newcastle promoted, he dropped out of the regular first-team line-up and, after only nine appearances in the following season back in the Premier League, he moved on to Porto.

After eventually breaking into the first team in his second season, he went on to have three full, successful campaigns, helping the club to win two straight league and Cup doubles – and scoring a match-winning double in a Cup final against arch-rivals Benfica. However, amid claims and counter-claims over Mbemba’s real age, which have followed him throughout his career, Porto decided not to renew his contract and he moved to the Canebiere.

Despite Henry’s comparison, perhaps a fairer one would be with former Marseille star Marcel Desailly – a charismatic leader, strong in the challenge and in the air but also comfortable with the ball at his feet and weighing in with goals – including two in the Champions League group stage in which OM fell just short. The PSG match which drew Henry’s compliment, although ending in defeat, was a showcase of Mbemba’s talents, shackling Kylian Mbappé all match yet also finding the time to push forward and to have some of Marseille’s best chances.

Marseille are often looking for star names to restore them to past glories but, if they end the season successfully, it will be in large part thanks to the chance they took on Chancel.

Jeremy Smith | GFFN

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L’Équipe found a legal summary document which has revealed the new ownership structure of Olympique Lyonnais following John Textor’s completed acquisition of the club. 

To start with, all investors put their funds into Eagle Football, the company set up by John Textor which is the entity that officially owns the club. The document shows that the businessman contributed cash and football assets to Eagle for a total of $310m (€292m). This includes his shares in Crystal Palace (40%) as well as the integration of Botafogo (Brazil) and Molenbeek (Belgium) into the Eagle family. 

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L’Équipe then, according to the evidence consulted, traced the investments into Eagle. It found that American fund Ares Management lent exactly $405 million (about €382 million). $275 million (€259.2 million) is long-term debt, with no requirement for periodic interest payments for eight years. The remaining $130 million (€122.5 million) is being released as a bridge loan, subject to replacement in the short to medium term by other sources of income. Iconic sports invested $75 million – and whose owner James Dinan will be on the board of OL – as well as Elmwood Partners investing $25 million. 

Thus the ownership setup of Eagle Football is the following : 75% for John Textor, 19% for Iconic Sports, and 6% for Elmwood Partners.

Following what looked a serious knee injury during Rennes’ clash with OGC Nice last night, L’Équipe confirm that winger Martin Terrier suffered a cruciate ligament & meniscus injury to his right knee and could be out of action for eight months. 

These were following the first examinations of the winger, who scored in Rennes 3-1 victory last night but was stretchered off to the worried expressions of players, staff, and the fans at Roazhon Park. He is said to have damaged the cruciate ligaments and the meniscus of his right knee which could precede a lengthy absence,

Rennes boss Bruno Genesio spoke following the match about the huge loss that Terrier represents for Rennes, saying that “Replacing Martin, finding players of this quality in the transfer window, it is impossible. We will think, ask ourselves, and wait for the medical verdict. But there are players capable of compensating for its absence, or the possibility of a different system (4-3-3). We will reflect on what we will do. Jérémy Doku, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Désiré Doué will no doubt have the opportunity to show themselves more.”

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TF1 journalist Saber Desfarges is reporting that Wolverhampton Wanderers have seen an opening offer for Mario Lemina (29) rejected by OGC Nice. 

Lemina has featured 19 times for Les Aiglons this season and scored once and registered one assist. It comes after a summer where Lemina was heavily linked with a departure from the Allianz Riviera. Responding to those rumours in an interview with Get French Football News in November, the Gabonese midfielder said, “Lots of people asked a lot of questions. No one is in my head, or in the head of the coach. Today, me and Lucien Favre are on the same wavelength. I am here and I give the maximum of my capacities to be able to bring positive things to the team and that’s all that matters today. Everything that happened before is in the past. There was a lot of speculation. Today we’re 16, 17 matches in so the main thing is that I’m here and that I’m moving forward.” 

However, the former Southampton midfielder is now being linked with a return to the Premier League. According to Desfarges, Wolves are interested in signing the player this winter and have seen a €5m opening bid rejected. However, the club, managed by Julien Lopetegui, will likely return with an improved offer. 

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