We've
heard of crazy stories involving player-owner dustups before but this one
certainly takes the cake.
The Brazilian
midfielder, on loan with Olympique Marseille from Real Madrid, has struggled
settling in with the French outfit this season. In an effort to find a
solution, Marseille and Real reportedly struck a deal to ship Silva to Belgian
club Anderlecht right before the winter transfer deadline.
Seemed
like a great, quick fix at first glance, right? Well, this is where the story
takes an unusual twist.
The
22-year-old ultimately refused to leave the Stade Velodrome last week,
seemingly making a difficult situation even worse. Marseille owner Vincent
Labrune, unpleased over Silva's decision, reportedly took matters into his own
hands before the club's Ligue 1 match vs. Montpellier.
According
to French newspaper L'Equipe, Labrune allowed Silva to board
the team bus ahead of the two-hour, 105-mile ride to Montpellier only to
embarrass the ex-Cruzeiro man by forcing him off the bus halfway to their
destination in front of his stunned teammates. Talk about cold-blooded!
But
wait, it gets better. Silva took to social media on Wednesday and provided a
lengthy explanation to the said events:
"On
the last day of the transfer window, I was on the bus with the team in order to
travel for a match," Silva said on Facebook. "While negotiations were
taking place with European clubs."
Note:Au
début de la saison 2015/2016, j’ai été prêté à l’Olympique de Marseille (OM)
par le Real Madrid, car le...
He
added: "I was then told by OM to stay in Marseille because I could travel
at any moment as a result of these negotiations. Having said that, I have never
been asked to leave the bus as some media vehicles suggested.
"I
also take this opportunity to reinforce that I will stay at OM until the end of
my contract and will continue to fully dedicate myself to the club. Moreover, I
would like to thank the coach and my team mates who have always supported
me."
So did
Labrune kick Silva off the bus after all? If we're to believe the player, the
answer is a resounding no.
But
then again, he did leave one name out of his thank yous on Facebook.
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