Jonathan Rowe, the English player from Olympique de Marseille who fought with Adrien Rabiot, transferred to Bologna
A week after his altercation with Adrien Rabiot, Jonathan Rowe has already found a new employer, about 700 kilometers from Marseille. The 22-year-old English striker has signed with the Bologna club in Italy, OM announced on Sunday, August 24.
Arriving at the Cannebière in 2024, the international hopeful "will wear the colors of the Italian club in 2025-2026" , indicated the Marseille club in a press release, wishing him "every success for the rest of his career" . Jonathan Rowe played 30 matches for OM last season, scoring 3 goals and providing 4 assists.
The transfer, for which neither the duration nor the amount have been disclosed, was confirmed by Bologna, which plays in Serie A, the Italian top division. According to Italian media and La Provence, the deal is a four-year contract and the transfer fee is around €19.5 million.
“A roller coaster of emotions”In a farewell message posted on his Instagram account, the player expressed his thanks to the Marseillais, without explicitly referring to his recent setbacks. "It has been a roller coaster of emotions, but I want to sincerely thank you for the faith and support you have had in me all along the way," he wrote, in French.
"I don't want to go into too much detail. I want to focus on thanking the players, coaches and [backroom] staff for pushing me day after day to fight" for OM, he added. "Good luck, brother," another Englishman in the OM squad, Mason Greenwood, replied.
Considered transferable for several weeks, Jonathan Rowe was officially dismissed by the Marseille club after the fight which opposed him to his teammate Adrien Rabiot, on August 15, in the locker room, after the defeat of OM (1-0) in Rennes, at the opening of the L1 season.
The president of the Marseille club, Pablo Longoria, subsequently denounced to the AFP "an event of extreme gravity and violence, something unheard of" , justifying the decision to place the two players on the transfer list.
Although the measure was described as irrevocable by OM leaders, coach Roberto De Zerbi opened the door to a reconciliation with Adrien Rabiot on Saturday after the 5-2 victory against Paris FC, hoping that there would be "the conditions to repair things" .
Is this a new twist in the affair that has been rocking Olympique de Marseille for the past week? On Saturday, August 23, OM coach Roberto De Zerbi opened the door to a reconciliation with Adrien Rabiot, who has been sidelined by the club since an altercation with teammate Jonathan Rowe on August 15 in Rennes. After OM's 5-2 victory over Paris FC, the Italian coach said he wanted to "reach out" to the French player.
"I haven't spoken about it yet with Pablo Longoria [OM president] or Medhi Benatia [the team's football director] . But even if he made a mistake, I hope, and not only for the value of the player, but also for that of the person, that there are the conditions to repair things," explained De Zerbi in a press conference. "I am not the person who closes the doors, on anyone. I am not the only one to decide. On the contrary, it is first and foremost the club more than the coach who must decide," he added.
"But I'm reaching out to everyone. If I can help solve this problem, I'm willing to do anything," De Zerbi added. "The will to fix things must be everyone's. You have to evaluate a lot of things on a human level. But I'm a good person, and so is Adrien. Sometimes you have to take a step back with intelligence and humility," the technician also explained.
Sports Service (with AFP)
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