Speaking to Le Phocéen, Le Havre midfielder Pape Gueye’s entourage opened the door to a move this summer to Marseille, despite the signing of a pre-contract with Watford, where the player announced he has no intention of going.
The 21-year-old’s entourage had the following to say on the matter:
“Pape will not go to Watford. A contract was signed in January, but it has not yet taken effect and nobody can force that. Aside from that, Watford can ask for a break fee, but they cannot force Pape to play for them. This clause was fixed by the club at €5m, but this is far from reality today because the value of players has halved with the health crisis. When he signed, Pape was valued at between €2m and €3m, and on Transfermarkt today it sits at €1.6m. The club that wants to sign him will have to negotiate this clause down with Watford.”
Gueye’s reasoning for not joining Watford is that he feels his former agent, Bakari Sanogo, tricked him into signing a bad deal – notably a contract that would see him earn €30k a month pre-tax and with no signing bonus. In terms of the sporting project as well, Watford intended to keep him until December before loaning him to Udinese.
His entourage continued:
“Marseille is one of the clubs that is most interested in Pape, that’s clear. There is also Metz, Strasbourg, Angers, Nantes, German, Portuguese and Spanish clubs. Arsenal also contacted us with a salary three times better. But Pape wants to play in Ligue 1 for two or three years before going abroad, and Marseille is clearly on his shortlist. They would be a superb club for him.”
