André Ayew, the Ghanaian international, has finally opened up about a significant moment in his football career when he was 25 years old.
Until 2015, the player was still with Marseille (OM) and had just completed a successful season under Marcelo Bielsa.
However, due to the club’s financial situation, Ayew was forced to move to the Premier League as he had not received a contract extension offer.
His departure did not sit well with Marseille fans, who criticized him without knowing the full story.
For a long time, Ayew remained silent about the situation, but nearly 10 years later, he has found the courage to speak out.
“I never really talked about this. Today, I am talking about it. But sometimes you have to be more sincere and take a step back to analyze situations,” the former Marseille player explained.
“When you talk with the President who says, ‘Listen, there’s this, this, and this. Here’s the club’s situation (complicated financial situation).’ I didn’t want to leave at first. It’s not like ‘you extend and then you leave.’ But that year, everyone left.
“Gignac, me, Thauvin, Imbula, Fanni, Dimitri Payet… Everyone left. Do you think the President and the club wanted all these players to leave?
“I think it’s because it wasn’t possible to keep them. It just wasn’t possible to extend even Gignac, Payet, and Ayew, even at a lower cost.
“Because if we leave for free, it means we leave space in the coffers, we leave money for the next year.
“But despite that, others had to be sold, and then you know it’s over. It’s when you come back that you analyze and see that it was tough.
“There was sadness when I left. It’s eleven years of my life. From 14 to 25 years old. Marseille gave me everything, both on the field and off. That day (of departure), it was very hard,” acknowledged the Ghanaian.
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