Olympique de Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda has revealed he will not leave the Stade Vélodrome when the transfer window re-opens in January.
The France international, 29, is reportedly attracting interest from Russian Premier League giants FC Dynamo Moscow after an impressive start to the 2014/15 campaign with Marseille.
“Honestly, I won’t leave in January,” Mandanda told the club’s official website.
“I don’t want to leave, though it is true that anything can happen.
“You’re never sure you won’t be transferred or that I won’t be dropped or that I’ll get injured.
“In this line of work, you are never sure of anything.
“In my head, it’s clear that I don’t want to leave, and I certainly don’t want to leave in January.”
L’OM (8-1-1) are currently in first-place in the French Ligue 1 table with 25 points–seven points clear of second-placed Paris Saint-Germain (4-6-0)–from 10 league matches, and Mandanda has certainty played his part.
The club captain has already kept five clean sheets this season, and only PSG, Nantes, and Lille have conceded fewer goals (7) than Marseille (8) in France’s top-flight.
Les Phocéens bright start to the new season may come as a surprise, especially when considering the club offloaded arguably their best player, Mathieu Valbuena, to Dynamo Moscow for just £6 million in the summer.
However, the exit of Valbuena has unleashed the attacking quartet consisting of Andre Ayew, Andre-Pierre Gignac, Dimitri Payet, and Florian Thauvin, who have helped Marseille produce a league-best 2.5 goals per game this term.
Manolas turned down Arsenal
A.S. Roma centre-back Konstantinos Manolas has claimed he turned down the opportunity to join Arsenal in favour of securing a move to the Stadio Olimpico during the summer transfer window.
Manolas, a Greece international, was linked with Arsenal after bolstering his C.V. with a fantastic 2013/14 season with Greek Superleague champions Olympiacos.
The 23-year-old defender also went on to impress at the World Cup finals in Brazil, which would go on to increase his market valuation to €13 million when Roma came calling.
“It’s true, Juventus sought me out after the World Cup,” Manolas said.
“I could also have ended up at Arsenal. But I never went to London, as it was reported.
“Now, for me, there is only Roma. I’m very happy to have come here.”
Since arriving in Roma, Manolas has played pretty well. There is a fine line between ‘pretty’ and ‘very.’ In this case, the line is drawn because Manolas’ was sent off in the derby against Juventus earlier this month.
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