Ghana international Andre Ayew revealed he was not interested in a move to English Premier League sides Arsenal and Liverpool. The 21-year-old insisted he was happy at Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille and intended to stay at the club. Ayew has been linked with both Arsenal and Liverpool for some time now, but he made it very clear he was not looking for a Marseille exit any time soon.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was reportedly willing to pay £5 million for the Marseille winger, while Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is ready to offer £10 million in an attempt to lure Ayew to Anfield. Dalglish has made it clear he is in the market for a winger this summer and Ayew seems to fit the bill; the youngster has been very impressive this season.
Ayew initially joined the Marseille under-17 team and worked his way up to the senior squad in 2007 after he scored 11 goals in his debut season. His first senior season with the club was not as eventful; he made 14 appearances and did not manage any goals or assists. Despite interest from other clubs, Marseille retained the services of Ayew and sent him on a loan move to Lorient.
The Ghanaian gained valuable playing experience at Lorient but was still restricted to the role of a substitute. He still managed to make 22 appearances in the league and scored three goals in his time with Lorient. He then returned to Marseille, only to be sent out on loan to newly promoted Ligue 1 side AC Arles-Avignon for the 2009-2010 season.
He did relatively well at the former Ligue 2 side, in 26 appearances he went on to score 4 goals and provided 3 assists. After two seasons on loan, Ayew finally returned to Marseille and signed a three year contract extension to mark his return. So far he has made 32 appearances and has found the back of the net 8 times.
Ayew insisted he wished to remain with Marseille, he said while speaking to reporters, “These speculations won’t affect me at all because I am only focused on doing one thing and that’s helping my club Marseille this season… I will continue to play my heart out for my club as we want to win trophies and not to concentrate on what the media is speculating.”
He continued, “Marseille is a great club and I am well here. I love the supporters and the manager treats me well so I look forward to being here for a long time.” It seems the young winger will remain with the French outfit, who are unwilling to let him go for anything less than £15 million.
