Marseille’s hopes of signing Benoît Badiashile and Jakub Kiwior wane

Olympique de Marseille have their sights on raising the quality of their defence during the January transfer window. Two of OM’s major targets, however, are seemingly out of reach, as per La Provence. 

There are concerns and doubts about Lilian Brassier, brought in over the summer to play a key role alongside Leonardo Balerdi at the centre of defence. However, he has failed to convince and could be on his way out in January. Naturally, Marseille are looking to strengthen and had identified Premier League duo Benoît Badiashile (23) and Jakub Kiwior (24) as targets, La Provence understands.

However, any move for the duo looks unlikely, as things stand. Chelsea are refusing to let Badiashile leave, even though the Frenchman is playing a peripheral role, whilst at Arsenal, Kiwior is featuring more regularly under Mikel Arteta in recent weeks, which makes any move to the Vélodrome unlikely. Marseille’s sights may therefore go away from the duo as the club looks to bolster their options at centre-back and sustain their push to finish on the podium in Ligue 1.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle