Olympique de Marseille, according to Marca and other sources, are interested in Francis Coquelin. As we said in or piece on what to expect from Villarreal in the transfer market it is extremely likely that at least one of our over aged 30 defensive midfielders departs this summer, making room possibly for Manu Morlanes to return and back up Trigueros and Parejo or even for another signing in the central part of midfield.
For me, if we are going to lose one of Iborra, Capoue, or Coquelin, I would prefer it be Coquelin. Now, that preference is not as stark as it was early in the season, because Coquelin had some huge performances down the stretch and was an important piece in our Europa League glory. That said, he is by my reckoning not as good a player as the other two and what’s worse he has had a rash of injuries since arriving. A single traumatic ligament tear like Iborra suffered is one thing, but when it is one small thing after another all the time I wonder about your general durability.
One of the interesting things I learned while researching this rumor came from GFFN. Apparently the president of OM, Pablo Longoria, is known for cultivating a wide variety of options at a given transfer position and work until he lands a deal with one of them. Having a wide variety of options for a position of need is normal, but the way they phrased it suggests to me that Longoria is more interested in the exact nature of the deal he can get than he is which particular player he ends up with. The other main name linked at this particular position for OM is Mattéo Guendouzi, and the talks there seem a bit more advanced than they are for Coquelin. While Coquelin may still move this summer, if OM can finalize things with Guendouzi in the next couple of days this rumor might shut down before it really even gets going.