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Report: Villas-Boas resigns after wanting new Aston Villa signing to join West Ham
The saga surrounding Andre Villas-Boas ans his resignation at Marseille has taken another step towards intriguing, after over the reasoning for his exit – and it involves a new Villa signing and West Ham’s Manuel Lanzini.
It all began when Morgan Sanson swapped Marseille for Villa earlier in January, a fee believed to be in the region of £14million (Sun). He initially wanted his board to offer a swap deal that would involve Sanson going to West Ham, though.
That is because he wanted Argentina international Manuel Lanzini. But the Marseille board decided to cash in, and despite pushing for a late loan offer for Lanzini – Villas-Boas was refused in his bid for Lanzini, and Olivier Ntcham was signed instead.
Villas-Boas did not want Ntcham and that decision saw him come to the end of his tether, a decision that has left the Marseille board with egg on their face – losing a manager that got them into the Champions League last season.
TBR’s view – Lanzini-Sanson swap would have been good for all parties
But the chance to bring in cold, hard cash for Sanson from free-spending Villa proved too good to turn down for Marseille – even if it meant annoying their manager, and eventually losing him. Lanzini’s time at West Ham looks spent.
He is far from the player he was before a long-term knee injury while on international duty with Argentina in 2018. The Hammers need midfield cover and Sanson would have been ideal, but he has gone to Villa.
Villas-Boas anger is understandable – Lanzini is a tricky playmaker with skill and a goal threat, that can also play out wide, while Ntcham is very different. Marseille’s board need to lick their wounds, accept their mistake and go again.
