Villas-Boas offers to resign as Marseille coach in transfer row

Marseille (AFP) – An angry Andre Villas-Boas offered his resignation as coach of Marseille on Tuesday after revealing the Ligue 1 club signed midfielder Olivier Ntcham from Celtic against his wishes on transfer deadline day.

“I want nothing from OM, no money. I just want to leave,” Villas-Boas said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Ntcham, a 24-year-old former France Under-21 international, joined on loan from Celtic until the end of the season just before the winter transfer window closed but Villas-Boas said he had not been in favour of the deal and knew nothing about it.

“The transfer window closed with the arrival of a new player on deadline day. It was not a decision that was taken by me. I had nothing to do with the decision,” he said.

“I found out this morning when I woke up and looked at the press. I had specifically said no to that player and he was never on our list of targets.

“Because of that I have handed in my resignation to the board.”

Villas-Boas, the former Porto, Chelsea and Tottenham manager, had already said last week that he expected to leave when his contract expires at the end of this season, with Marseille on a run of just one win in nine games in all competitions.

Three straight league defeats have seen last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up slip to ninth in the table before they face Lens on Wednesday.

Their scheduled match at home to Rennes on Saturday was postponed after several hundred angry fans stormed the club’s training ground in a violent protest, leading to 25 arrests.