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Marseille have released shocking behind the scenes footage of a row between Roberto De Zerbi and Ismael Kone. Former Watford man Kone joined the Ligue 1 side last summer for a reported £15million, but left on loan to Rennes a few months later. Towards the end of the January transfer window, former Brighton boss De Zerbi said the Canadian international would 'probably leave'. And in a documentary series posted on You Tube, Marseille revealed a furious training ground clash between the pair before Kone went to Rennes. De Zerbi was visibly angry when the midfielder seemingly took too many touches and lost possession during a training drill. "Oh my God! " the Italian shouted with his arms outstretched, before adding: "When I tell you to reduce the touches, reduce the touches! " "I couldn't play! " Kone said in protest, but it's clear that his manager had enough as he ordered him to go inside to the showers. As he was making his way off the training pitch, De Zerbi cried out towards him, saying: "Call your agent, call your agent to come here! " Kone turned around and insisted he didn't say anything before a member of De Zerbi's coaching staff held him back from the manager. Some of his Marseille teammates got involved by pushing him away from trouble, whilst De Zerbi walked back towards the pitch amid the tension. Sporting director and ex-player Mehdi Benatia was stood to the side and recalled what he saw when speaking in the documentary. "It was a moment like that, Isma knew. .. What can I say? He knew. He's not a bad guy, " Benatia said. "He arrived at Olympique Marseille and I don't think he realised, when he arrived from Watford, Olympique Marseille isn't on level two, it's 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, who was right. "After that, they argued a bit. I was on the side of the pitch, I tried to do the same thing, 'Go to the changing room. ' "'Come to my office after and we'll talk about what you wanted to do. You reacted badly. The coach might have spoken to you badly. "'No worries, I'm not trying to blame anyone. I have a question, when you turned back, what was it for? ' "'Oh no, I wasn't trying to do anything. ' For me, it shouldn't ever go that far. "I really like Isma. It's a shame. Unfortunately, he didn't understand what Marselle is about. " "He's one of the players with the most potential at Olympique Marseille, " De Zerbi explained. "But he didn't always behave well, someone who had highs and lows that were too big for a player who is ready for Olympique Marseille. " Kone shortly moved to fellow French side Rennes on loan for the rest of the 2024/25 season. The 23-year-old will now spend the upcoming campaign at Sassuolo, who have just been promoted to Serie A after winning Serie B. De Zerbi remains at Marseille, guiding them to second in Ligue 1 at the end of his first full season following his Brighton departure. talk SPORT reported earlier in the summer that the Italian had been recommended to Tottenham by former director Fabio Paratici. However, De Zerbi has remained in France, with his contract running until 2027. © 2025 talk SPORT Limited
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