Saturday, 14th September, 2013
Marseille president Vincent Labrune has leapt to the defence of former Lille rebel Florian Thauvin after reports that the midfielder's move had been all about the money.
Thauvin's reported €15m move to Marseille sparked condemnation from Lille's fans, this after he had skipped training to force the issue.
He is understood to have been given a significant pay rise at Marseille, with the speculation spectrum going between €90,000 and €170,000 in monthly wages.
The 20-year-old recently refused to reveal why he had left Lille, instead pointing to "internal" causes he thought the fans would never know about.
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And Labrune believes Thauvin has garnered a false bad-boy image as a result, telling L'Equipe: "On balance the figures are totally wrong – both in terms of the transfer fee and salary.
"He is a victim of this media game, where demagoguery and populism are mixed at the same time. His arrival is definitely not a financial issue.
"It's easy to paint him as the bad guy. But in life there are no good guys or bad guys."
Lille had bought Thauvin from Bastia in January this year, but immediately sent him back on loan for the rest of the campaign.
The midfielder had a successful summer with France when he won the Under-20 World Cup, scoring three goals in seven games at the tournament.
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