According to The Sun, Andre Villas-Boas left his post as Marseille boss partly because a swap deal for Manuel Lanzini fell through.
Villas-Boas was desperate to sign Lanzini from West Ham, and tried to engineer a swap deal involving Morgan Sanson.
Sanson joined Aston Villa instead, so Villas-Boas went back in with a late loan approach for Lanzini in the hope of replacing Sanson.
However, Marseille didn’t manage to sign Lanzini, and instead brought in Olivier Ntcham from Celtic – a player Villas-Boas made clear he didn’t want.
Villas-Boas then offered his resignation as a result, which was accepted as Marseille now look towards a new era.
Lanzini, 27, has only started two Premier League games this season with an additional nine substitute appearances, and has been pushed down the pecking order by Jesse Lingard’s arrival.
The Argentinian was once so important under Slaven Bilic and then in David Moyes’ first spell at the club, but injuries and competition for places have taken their toll.
It’s almost a surprise that West Ham didn’t let Lanzini leave for Marseille before the deadline, and Villas-Boas clearly wasn’t happy with the decision.
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