AS Monaco winger Lucas Ocampos remains in the transfer plans of Olympique de Marseille, according to Phoceens coach Marcelo Bielsa.
SEE MORE:
Marseille’s Dimitri Payet defends himself after latest referee rant
PSG news
Olympique Marseille news
Speaking to L’Equipe [via Le 10 Sport], the legendary Argentine manager confirmed that the club were still considering a move for the Argentine forward and there was still hope of concluding a deal.
“The Marseille chiefs have not abandoned the idea of keeping hold of the attacker,” Bielsa began, “and we have begun talks to this end with l’ASM.”
The former River Plate man moved to Monaco in 2012, but was loaned to Marseille in January earlier this year as the Club of the Principality shuffled their offensive options.
The 20-year-old confirmed to Le Parisien [via Le 10 Sport], that he would definitely sign permanently for the Olympians if OM secured Champions League qualification for the 2015-16 season.
Despite finding themselves in the midst of a title challenge before the spring, a poor late-season slump ultimately cost Marseille both the Ligue 1 crown and a chance to feature in Europe’s elite competition this term.
Their failure looked to have scuppered any chances of securing Ocampos on a permanent deal, with the Argentine looking likely to join the likes of Andre Ayew [via ESPN], Andre-Pierre Gignac [also ESPN] and Jeremy Morel [via France 3] who are all set to leave the club (or who have already departed) this summer.
Manchester United and Chelsea were both interested in the forward earlier this year, with the Express reporting that the attacker had rejected both EPL sides to move to OM.
Ocampos also revealed [via the Express] that he was close to securing a move to Fiorentina, before the Viola turned to Chelsea’s Mohamed Salah.
It remains to be seen whether either of the Premier League giants will look to return for Ocampos, who scored two goals in 14 Ligue 1 outings for Marseille this season, and one in 17 for Monaco.