Just one week into the 2025–26 Ligue 1 season, one of the most prominent clubs in France is already embroiled in a major internal conflict involving one of the national team’s stars and Kylian Mbappe’s teammate.
Last Friday, Olympique Marseille began their league campaign with a 1–0 loss away at Rennes. However, the result was quickly overshadowed by what happened after the final whistle: a heated altercation broke out in the locker room between Adrien Rabiot and his teammate Jonathan Rowe.
The conflict escalated to the point that, in the hours following the incident, OM announced that both players had been removed from the squad, would take no further part in the season, and that the club would be open to transfer offers for either player.
The decision sent shockwaves through Ligue 1, particularly given Rabiot’s status as one of the league’s top stars, a key figure at Olympique Marseille, and a regular for the French national team—where he finished as a runner-up at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar alongside stars such as Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Antoine Griezmann.
Olympique Marseille head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
On Friday, head coach Roberto De Zerbi addressed the situation in a press conference. “I’m not going to prostitute myself for a player who helps us win matches,” he said, according to Diario AS. “I won’t lose my dignity just to avoid losing the championship. I will always support the club… In a soccer club, like anywhere else, there has to be a hierarchy. The club comes first. Before the players, there’s the coach and the club.”
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De Zerbi reveals details of the fight between Rabiot and Rowe
In the same press conference, De Zerbi admitted that what happened in the locker room last Friday went beyond anything he had experienced in his career. “This fight—where bodyguards had to defend us and separate the players—it’s the only time I’ve seen something like that,” said the Italian coach. “I come from the street, I’m used to this kind of stuff. But seeing bodyguards protecting us…”
He continued: “No teeth were knocked out, but I’ve never seen anything like this fight. I saw the doctor trying to revive the other player on the ground, Rowe and Rabiot fighting… On the pitch you have to show courage. But not against your own teammates. No one should think they’re above the club.”
Olympique Marseille’s decision to move on from Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot joined Olympique Marseille a year ago after a long stint with Juventus. In his first season with the club, the midfielder was instrumental, scoring 10 goals in 31 matches. That makes the decision to remove him from the roster a significant blow for the French side.
“Adrien is sorry. He feels the decision was too harsh, too severe,” De Zerbi revealed. “I told him that if he were my son and I were his coach, I would have done the same. Sometimes we suffer, we make decisions reluctantly — and that was the case here. But sometimes duty comes first.”
Rabiot’s future is now unclear, with reports linking him to a potential move to Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League, where he would reunite with former France teammates Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante. Other speculation involves a potential swap deal between Barcelona and Olympique Marseille, which would include Marc Casado.
