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Ligue 1 special: Olympique de Marseille get peanuts for Lucho Gonzalez

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Over the years, French Ligue 1 clubs have seen big-money signings flop miserably, a fact that the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707 and Andy Carroll. However, the case of Lucho Gonzalez is a quandary
that won’t be solved
The transfer window is far from a win-win situation for many French clubs. Many Ligue 1 clubs have had to part with big-money flops for minimal fees. Argentine international, Lucho Gonzalez became yet another
trop chere tragedy when he left Olympique de Marseille for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 for a price many people would term“peanuts”.
A promise made
In the summer of 2009, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127 coach, Didier Deschamps paid Portuguese giants FC Porto 18 million Euros (plus six million in bonuses) for the midfielder who had been a great asset to the Portuguese giants in his first stint at a European club.
Didier Deschamps even went as far as to suggest that he had signed one of the best players in the world. Poor DD was left eating his words 12 months later. After guiding Olympique de Marseille to the 2009/2010 Ligue 1 Championelle, Gonzalez failed to provide
the same performances in the next campaign.
Patience sometimes, can be a bad vice
Despite his poor form, Deschamps was patient and gave the Argentine enough chances to impress. However, not much changed as Lille went on to win the Championelle for the first time in ages. The 2011/2012 Ligue 1 campaign’s first two games were probably the
only two good performances delivered by the Argentine to date.
Deschamps changed his formation and Gonzalez showed his inability to adapt to it and was consequently relegated to the bench in favour of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Morgan-Amalfitano-c26799 and Cheyrou.
A stand taken
Gonzalez was one of the top-earners in Les Phoceens’ squad and in order to cut down their losses and ease the burden on the payroll, the Rhone giants chose to sell the player.
However, no club was willing to meet Marseille’s financial requirement for the player. In the end, it was FC Porto who swooped in to take back the player they received 24 million Euros for all those years ago.
Ironically, Marseille had to terminate the player’s contract (by mutual consent of course). Even more ironic was the fact that Marseille bade Gonzalez au Revoir for free. The player was under contract until 2015 but upon termination he became a free agent.
What happened to Lucho after a great debut season with the Ligue 1 giants would always remain a big mystery. The Argentine was inconsistent since that dream season and showed his genius only in flashes.
Big-money signings in football are a big gamble for any club. over the years, we have seen many players with hefty price-tags fail to perform.
However, the Lucho Gonzalez saga might not be the last time Marseille would suffer a financial blow. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 international Andre-Pierre Gignac seems to be following the same path. Les Phoceens paid Toulouse 16 million Euros for the striker.
Not the first and not the last
Just like his former teammate, Gignac has failed to rediscover his golden touch and his value would have gone down considerably when Marseille would consider selling him.
To add more to their woes, Gignac is on a lucrative contract and is not willing to leave the club at any cost. Intelligent thinking by a player who would surely not get the same amount he is earning at Marseille anywhere else.
Disclaimer: View expressed in this article are the writer's own and do not reflect bettor.com's editorial policy

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