Ligue 1 boss confirms ‘pathetic’ Aston Villa offer for star midfielder

Marseille boss Andre Villas-Boas has slammed Aston Villa’s offer for midfielder Morgan Sanson as ‘pathetic’ and confirmed they rejected the bid.

Sanson’s impressive form for the Ligue 1 giants has attracted interest from top teams in England, including the likes of  Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham.

However, Villa are the first club to make an official approach – although that bid, thought to be around €13m, plus €3m in bonuses, was knocked back immediately.

“We had a very, very weak offer from Aston Villa which we turned down. It was pathetic,” Villas-Boas told French TV channel Telefoot Chaine (as cited by the Mail) after Marseille’s 1-0 defeat by Lens.

“I hope that he (Sanson) continues to remain professional.”

The 26-year-old was a key performer as Marseille finished 2nd in Ligue 1 last season. He scored five goals and laid on five assists.

However, they are struggling somewhat this time around, currently sitting sixth – 10 points behind leaders PSG.

Marseille set Sanson price

Former Spurs boss Villas-Boas confirmed last weekend that there had been interest in the player. Marseille are said to value Sanson at around £20million.

“We’ll see. The transfer window is open, Sanson is a player who is highly rated,’ Villas-Boas said last Saturday.

“Officially, we have not received any offers, unless it happened during the match.

“He is a boy who interests English teams because of his characteristics. It is possible that something could happen.”

However, it would that ‘something’ was a lowly offer from Villa for a player who has scored twice this season.

Sanson, who has only just returned from a muscle injury, has a contract which runs until summer 2022.

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