Marseille, Rabiot and Rowe fall out and the club puts them on the market

Marseille 's season, a Ligue 1 club led for the second time by Roberto De Zerbi, got off to a rocky start. After a defeat to Rennes in the opening match of the season, a heated argument between Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe erupted, resulting in the club's decision to sell both players.

Rabiot on the market

The club announced in a statement that "Rabiot and Rowe (who is now close to joining Bologna) are on the market. The decision was made due to unacceptable behavior in the locker room after the match against Rennes, in agreement with the coaching staff and in accordance with the club's internal code of conduct." This is a surprising decision, especially for Rabiot, who was one of the architects of last year's second-place finish with nine goals and four assists in 29 games. Longoria himself, in the documentary "Without a Cry," produced by OM, called him "the best man I've ever had in a locker room in my entire career, a workhorse."

The fight in the locker room after the defeat in Rennes

But what happened that was so serious? It seems that in the locker room after the defeat to Rennes, while De Zerbi, in the presence of Benatia, was berating the players, tensions became heated with some leaders (Rulli, Balerdi, and Hojbjerg), who, feeling called out, responded by raising their voices. At this point, De Zerbi left, leaving the players to argue among themselves, and things escalated. Rowe was reportedly singled out for his lack of commitment, having engaged in a heated exchange of accusations with Rabiot, which even escalated into a physical altercation, as reported by 'L'Equipe' and a source close to the club.

President Marseille: "It's unheard of."

The altercation between Rabiot and Rowe was "an extremely serious and violent event, something unprecedented," club president Pablo Longoria explained. "We had to make a decision after an incident that exceeded the acceptable limits in a football club, as in any organization. I wasn't in the dressing room. But what I can say is that everything I heard from the staff, both sporting and non-sporting, was that it was something unprecedented, violent, very aggressive, and that it exceeded all limits."

Meanwhile, the Rabiot family's lawyer, Romuald Palao , released a statement expressing "surprise and disappointment": "The club claims that his (Rabiot's, ed.) behavior has changed since the preseason in Holland, but this is false. It seems like a story is being constructed about what happened on Friday. There is a complete misunderstanding; it is up to the club to clarify."