Marseille have released the moment their head coach Roberto De Zerbi furiously confronted one of his players on the training ground last season.
The former Brighton boss steered Marseille to second place in Ligue 1 in the 2024-25 campaign, sealing a return to the Champions League.
Marseille have released a documentary series charting the Italian’s first season in charge of the club.
The latest episode showed a flashpoint from the season, as De Zerbi and midfielder Ismael Kone were held apart by team-mates on the training ground.
Footage showed Kone being dispossessed in training, with an exasperated De Zerbi stating ‘Oh my god, when I say reduce the touches, reduce the touches’.
‘I can’t play, go get a shower,’ De Zerbi adds ‘Go get a shower Isma, we are Olympique Marseille’, as he directed the Canadian international to the changing room.
Marseille have released footage of head coach Roberto De Zerbi clashing with midfielder Ismael Kone during a training session last season
Kone was sent out of training by De Zerbi, but turned around after the Italian told him to ‘call your agent’, prompting a confrontation
As Kone walks away, De Zerbi is seen shown shouting after the midfielder ‘Call your agent, call your agent, he comes here’, before repeating the statement.
Kone could be seen turning around in response to the comment with De Zerbi shouting ‘go inside’ as the midfielder responds ‘I didn’t say anything’.
Members of coaching staff and players ran into to stand between Kone and De Zerbi as the row threatened to escalate.
Speaking on the documentary, De Zerbi claimed the difference in Kone’s level was ‘too big’ for the midfielder to play for the club.
‘He is one of the players with the most potential at Olympique Marseille, but who didn’t always behave well, De Zerbi told the documentary.
‘Someone who had highs and lows that were too big for a player who is ready for Olympique Marseille.’
Kone had been De Zerbi’s first signing at Marseille last summer, with the 23-year-old joining in a £15million move from Watford.
Kone had joined Marseille last summer, but was sent on loan after just six months
De Zerbi admitted several of his players may have been shocked by the confrontation
Just six months after joining, having made eight league appearances, Kone was loaned to fellow Ligue 1 side Rennes.
Marseille sporting director Medhi Benatia added ‘It was a moment like that Isma knew, what can I say, he knew. He’s not a bad guy, he’s not a bad guy.
‘He arrived at Marseille and I don’t think he realised, when he arrived from Watford, Olympique Marseille is not on level two, it is actually on level five.
‘Maybe he thought it would be easy, we told him many times ‘you need to do more Isma, you need to do more’. And on that day there were a few comments like that, without knowing who was wrong and who was right. After that they argued a bit.
‘I was on the side of the pitch and tried to do the same thing, “go to the changing room, come to my office and we’ll talk about what you wanted to do”.
‘”You reacted badly, the coach might have spoken to you badly, no worries I am not trying to blame anyone. I have one question, when you turned back, what was it for?” For me it should never go that far.’
‘It is a shame, I really like Isma, but unfortunately he didn’t understand what Marseille is about’.
Training footage also showed De Zerbi approaching Jonathan Rowe, asking the forward whether Kone had been training well.
Kone scored against his parent club on the final day of the season and he since joined Sassuolo
Rowe, who admitted it had been ‘one of the most tense moments’ of the season, said he offered ‘no comment’ for fear that he would have also been sent into the changing room.
De Zerbi admitted players might have been ‘shocked’ by the clash, but declared that he was ‘used to it’ after 30 years in the game.
Kone would ultimately score against his parent club on the final day of the season, but his Rennes side were beaten 4-2 by De Zerbi’s Marseille.
He has since left the club on a season-long loan to Sassuolo, with the Italian club having the option to make the deal permanent.
