Pape Gueye has been left out of Marseille’s Europa League squad with Premier League strugglers Burnley now holding the option to bring him to England for free in the summer transfer window.
Vincent Kompany’s Clarets side were linked with the powerhouse midfielder during the January transfer window. And a deal which may have set them back £15 million last month could potentially be done for nothing later down the line.
Pape Gueye’s contract expires in July, after all.
And, after irritating the Marseille bosses with his reluctance to sign fresh terms, Gueye has now been frozen out of Gennaro Gattuso’s squad for the remainder of the Europa League campaign.
Burnley like Marseille contract-rebel Pape Gueye
L’OM will face Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk next week. Gueye will be absent from Gattuso’s roster, however, even after returning from African Cup of Nations duty with Senegal (Get France Football News).
Marseille president Pablo Longoria, meanwhile, made no secret of the fact that Gueye was free to leave during the winter market. Burnley are reportedly one of the clubs keen on a man who agreed to join Watford in 2020 but then left only a few months later amid plenty of accusations and recriminations (BBC Sport).
“The player is on the market,” Longoria told RMC Sport. “We are looking for the best solution for all parties.
“We proposed extension offers this season. The second (offer came) during the month of December. The player did not respond.
“We gave ourselves a deadline to think about it, January 6 or 7, and we did not receive a response.”
New signings make immediate impact
Burnley, despite failing to get a deal done for Gueye, did sign three new players before the February deadline. They all played their part, too, as the relegation-threatened Clarets came from 2-0 down to claim a potentially valuable draw against Fulham last time out.
Maxime Esteve looked an immediate upgrade on Kompany’s other central defensive options when coming off the bench while fellow Ligue 1 import Lorenz Assignon assisted one half of David Datro Fofana’s debut brace.
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