Derby´s Mears in trouble after fleeing to Marseille

Derby defender Tyrone Mears faces disciplinary action after defying the Championship club to go on trial with Marseille.

The French outfit offered to take Mears on loan and, although Derby rejected the approach, the right-back decided to fly to Marseille to try his luck with the Champions League contenders anyway.

Mears was so keen to go that the 25-year-old reportedly climbed through a window and crawled past Paul Jewell’s office at the club’s training ground to avoid seeing his manager.

Mears, who is under contract at Pride Park for another two years, is valued at around two million pounds (2.4 million euros) by Derby and they have no intention of letting him leave on loan as Marseille reportedly proposed.

A Derby spokesman said: “The faxed offer from Marseille was for a two-day trial, with the possibility of a free loan.

“That is completely and utterly unacceptable – in fact it’s laughable. Both the chairman Adam Pearson and the manager Paul Jewell communicated this to the player directly and to Marseille and made it clear that as the offer stood there would be no deal.”