With the dominance of the Premier League big hitters, other European clubs have had to settle for loan deals or cheaper fees for their targets.

Ivan Ilic (Hellas Verona to Torino)

With fellow Serbian Sasu Lukic leaving Torino for Premier League side Fulham, Torino pounced to get their hands on the ex Manchester City central midfielder.

Initially joining on a loan deal, Ilic will officially join in the summer for approximately £14 million. A big outlay for a club like Torino who traditionally rely on loan deals and free agents.

Ilic will provide Torino head coach Ivan Juric with a typical box to box option in the centre of the park. The Serbian is capable of progressing the ball extremely well as well as breaking up play to start attacks.

A player already accustomed to Ivan Juric and his style of play, Torino will hope to push further up the table and into the European spots for the first time in a decade with Ilic playing a pivotal role in midfield. 

Ruslan Malinovski (Atalanta to Marseille)

After joining Atalanta in 2019 the playmaker became a key cog in Gian Piero Gasparini’s entertaining Serie A side. However due to a supposed fallout with the manager Malinovski has decided to join Marseille.

With coach Igor Tudor playing a similar system to Atalanta’s, Malinovski should feel right at home playing in an attacking midfield role behind Alexis Sanchez. The technical maestro will also deliver danger from set pieces, which is always a valuable asset. 

The Ukrainian will aim to propel the French club into the title race as PSG continue to stall. Once again this deal is initially on a loan but expect the number ten to join in the long run if he performs well. 

Philipp Max (PSV Eindhoven to Eintracht Frankfurt)

Once of Augsburg, the German left back has recently become a bench player in the Eredivisie. He therefore was eager to move back home, with the opportunity to join Bundesliga title hunters Frankfurt too big to turn down.

The left back will offer an attacking outlet down the left hand side and will be a valuable alternative to the more defensive minded Christopher Lenz.

With the title race hotting up in the Bundesliga, Max could prove to be a decisive signing for the Frankfurt based club who will also have hopes of making the Champions League quarter finals.

Hamad Junior Traore (Sassuolo to Bournemouth)

With Bournemouth’s failed attempt to sign Nicolo Zaniolo, the southern based side have instead decided to sign the energetic midfielder Traore from Sassuolo. The club have signed the player on a loan deal with an obligation to buy for up to £20 million if certain conditions are met. 

The Ivory Coast international has been an important player for the green and blacks since 2019 and will inject high energy play into Bournemouth’s lacklustre midfield. 

Traore will also add versatility to the squad as he is also comfortable as a number ten or playing on the left side of midfield. With a relegation scrap to come in the future, Gary O’Neil will hope Traore will bring quality to the Cherries. 

Naouirou Ahamada (VFB Stuttgart to Crystal Palace)

With Crystal Palace spending little money in the summer they have decided to spend £10 million on rising star Ahamada from Bundeliga strugglers VFB Stuttgart.

The 20 year old midfielder is a supreme technician who has become an increasingly important player in Germany. With two goals and another two assists in league play this season, fans of the Die Schwaben will be disappointed to see another promising player leave. 

With the other deadline day signing of Albert Sambi Lokonga from Arsenal, Patrick Vieria will be overjoyed with his midfield options coming into the second half of the season. Ahamada has all the tools to be an important part of Crystal Palace’s future.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt

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The Champions League gets back underway this week following the international break with several sides in desperate need of victories to spark their European campaign into life.

Group A

Napoli will travel to Amsterdam looking to maintain their perfect start against an Ajax side smarting from their late defeat against Liverpool. The Italians have arguably been the standout side in the competition so far and can take a giant leap towards qualification with a victory in the Dutch capital.

Elsewhere it will be a first ever meeting of Liverpool and Rangers at Anfield with both sides needing wins for different reasons. Liverpool will look to Europe to gain some form after stuttering in the league while Rangers are yet to get off the mark in their return to the top table.

Group B

Club Brugge have arguably been the biggest surprise package in the tournament so far and will look to claim another scalp when they host Atletico Madrid.

The Belgians have made a perfect start and another victory would open a big gap between themselves and third place in the group.

Porto will be aiming to get off the mark after two defeats in their first two games when they host Bayer Leverkusen. The Germans are struggling domestically but did defeat Atletico last time out so they’ll have some belief travelling to Portugal.

Group C

Bayern Munich have once more made an impressive start to a Champions League group stage and will get the action underway on Tuesday when they host Viktoria Plzen in the early kickoff.

The German champions defeated their two biggest group rivals in September and will be expecting to dispatch of their Czech visitors to maintain their lead in the group.

Inter Milan meanwhile will host Barcelona in what is the biggest game of the week.

Both sides came up short when facing Bayern and both defeated Plzen so they’ll view these two upcoming games as the key to deciding who will follow Julien Nagelsmann’s side into the last 16.

Group D

Sporting are another side who have impressed, taking six points in what looked the most open group on paper.

They travel to Marseille on Tuesday who desperately need a win if they are to stand any hope of reaching the next round. The French side have started well in the league but have struggled badly in Europe in recent years and will be desperate to give the home support something to cheer.

Tottenham will visit Eintracht Frankfurt in the other Group D clash looking to bounce back from their weekend defeat to bitter rivals Arsenal and take steps towards qualification. It will be far from easy against the Europa League winners who will also have their sights on the latter stages.

Group E 

AC Milan head what has been a very tight and unpredictable Group E and will host Chelsea on Wednesday night with injuries to key players disrupting their preparation.

French pair Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez will miss the clash against Graham Potter’s men who needs points themselves having stuttered in their opening two games.

Salzburg are unbeaten thus far but have also yet to win but a victory over Dinamo Zagreb at home would put them in good stead heading into the turn in the group. The Croatians will be aiming for another surprise victory having stunned Chelsea last month.

Group F

Holders Real Madrid have made a serene start to their title defence and host Shakhtar on Wednesday looking to maintain their 100% record.

The visitors have also made a good start to the group and look favourites to join their hosts in the next round.

Celtic will travel to Leipzig looking to build on their credible draw against Shakhtar last time out and will need to get something to keep their qualification hopes alive as will the bottom side from East Germany.

Group G

Erling Haaland has been in utterly sensational form this season with 17 goals so far and the visit of FC Copenhagen will offer the Norwegian another chance to add to his tally.

The Danes picked up a draw against Sevilla three weeks ago but will be up against a Manchester City side brimming with confidence after sticking six goals past their local rivals Manchester United.

Sevilla have made a terrible start in La Liga and need to get something at home to Borussia Dortmund to avoid being cut adrift in terms of qualification. Victory for the Germans will see them move five points clear of their hosts with just three games to play.

Group H

Benfica have been another surprise outfit this season, winning nine of ten games in all competitions and two 100% records will go head to head in this group when they host PSG.

The Lisbon side claimed a stunning victory away at Juventus last time out and even a point here at home to the French champions will boost their chances of repeating what they did last year when they knocked Barcelona out in the group stages.

Juventus will be looking to avoid the same fate as the Spaniards and nothing less than three points against Maccabi Haifa in Turin will do, with manager Max Allegri under all sorts of pressure.

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Chesterfield’s Technique Stadium tonight plays host to some of the games elites’ as Marseille face Real Betis in a friendly.

Both clubs currently tour the UK, as they prepare for the start of their respective campaigns, with Marseille having already played Norwich, where they fell to a 3-0 defeat, and Middlesborough, where they lost 2-0.

For the newly crowned Copa Del Rey Champions, Real Betis, this game kicks off their pre-season tour of the UK, as they will also face Brentford on Saturday.

Former Premier League winning manager Manuel Pellegrini has included his new signing, central defender, Luiz Felipe in the squad for the UK tour as they look to build upon a fifth-place finish last season.

The newly capped Italian international joins Betis on a free after leaving Lazio, where he made 144 appearances across five seasons in the Eternal City, and will look to impress in Derbyshire tonight.

The player to watch for Los Verdiblancos is likely to be French World Cup winner, attacking midfielder, Nabil Fekir, who contributed six goals and eight assists in the Spanish top flight last campaign.

The 29-year-old almost became a signature signing for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool back in 2018 while at Lyon however, a £53m move collapsed at the last moment.

Pellegrini’s squad is as follows:

???

Our squad for the second stage of the preseason! pic.twitter.com/LE4Ikgbcrp

— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) July 25, 2022

Marseille visits England as one of France’s most successful sides, with nine Ligue 1 titles, 10 French Cups, and holding the honour of being the only French winner of the Champions League. They are a club steeped in history and success.

Dimitri Payet is still their star man aged 35 amassing 22 goal contributions in 31 Ligue 1 games last season, that’s more goal contributions than current Balon D’or holder Lionel Messi, who managed 20 in league play.

A player to keep an eye on though is wing-back Jonathan Clauss, who has joined Igor Tudor’s side this summer in a £6.75m move from Lens amid strong interest from Manchester United and Chelsea.

It has been a remarkable rise to glory for the 29-year-old, only making his top-flight debut in the 2020/21 season but since then Clauss has been named in back-to-back Ligue 1 Team of the Seasons, earning him his big move.

The explosive defender contributed five goals and 11 assists last season, more than Trent Alexander-Arnold for Liverpool, as he helped catapult Lens to a remarkable seventh-place finish.

New-boy Clauss joins up with his teammates in a star-studded Marseille squad:

??? ????? for the ?? tour. pic.twitter.com/SuCpE21jp0

— Olympique de Marseille ?? ?? (@OM_English) July 22, 2022

Both teams are without any injuries coming into the game, making for a mouth-watering tie where world-class players look to sprinkle their magic inside a stadium that has been compelled to non-league football since 2018.

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To be fair, it just a little bit over a month, so no wonder we’re still reeling from it. And yet, here we are today, getting ready for yet another Champions League season bound to have twists and turns and dramatic outcomes.

Full group stage draw

Group A: Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, Salzburg, Lokomotiv Moscow
Group B: Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Borussia Mönchengladbach
Group C: Porto, Manchester City, Olympiakos, Marseille
Group D: Liverpool, Ajax, Atalanta, Midtjylland
Group E: Sevilla, Chelsea, Krasnodar, Rennes
Group F: Zenit, Dortmund, Lazio, Club Brugge
Group G: Juventus, Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv, Ferencváros
Group H: PSG, Manchester United, RB Leipzig, İstanbul Başakşehir

Group C seems like a breeze for Manchester City.

Porto has been having an uneven Champions League run in the last couple of years, mostly either making the round of 16 or the quarterfinals.

Last year, they were unable to even reach the Champions League group stage, after being quarterfinalists the year before.

However, if their Primeira Liga start is of any indication (scoring 8 goals in 2 matches), they mean business this year.

Olympiakos’s most notable result in recent years had been knocking Arsenal out of the Europa League, but you’d have to go all the way to the 1998-99 season to find a better result than making the round of 16 in the Champions League.

Olympique de Marseille are happy to still be able to brag that they are the only French team to have ever won the Champions League, but other than the win in League 1 against PSG, in a match where red and yellow cards flew, just like the multiple accusations of racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and discrimination, their results aren’t particularly notable.

The 2017-18 Europa League final against Atlético Madrid showed some promise, but then the next year, they couldn’t even make it past the Europa League group stage.

Predicted placements: 1) Manchester City 2) Porto 3) Olympiakos 4) Marseille

Group D is pretty much the miracle group.

Liverpool won the Champions League in the 2018-19 season, 14 years after the Miracle of Istanbul. Ajax had a formidable Champions League run in the same season, eliminating both Real Madrid and Juventus, while Atalanta reached last season’s quarterfinals, after it seemed almost a given that they wouldn’t even advance from the group stage.

Their rebirth was also backed by a Serie A performance which saw them finishing third, with 98 goals scored. Midtjylland is also making their Champions League group stage debut, after an impressive play-off win against Slavia Praha. Ajax, however, didn’t really live up to the expectations, only finishing third in their group in the past season and losing against Getafe in the Europa League.

It has to be said though that within the last two years, they’ve lost players like Dest, van de Beek, Ziyech, de Ligt, and de Jong, so it’s understandable that they need more time to rebuild that team of youngsters we all loved to see.

Traore, Antony, Martinez, and Kudus will fight to fill that void though scouts will be watching them. Between Atalanta and Ajax, the second place is pretty much a matter of flipping the coin, but I’m giving the edge to Atalanta because their offensive threat can make the best defenses crack.

Predicted placements: 1) Liverpool 2) Atalanta 3) Ajax 4) Midtjylland

Article and pictures courtesy of Alexandra Fechete

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt

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The Champions League, or the European Cup, has been a stage for some of the world’s greatest players to prove themselves. Some have had the privilege of putting their hands on the biggest club honour in European football. But for others it has become too much of a familiar story, coming so close, yet so far. Here we look at five players never to be crowned, European Champions.

Lotthär Matthäus

Lotthar Matthaus alongsode David Beckham in 1998/99 Champions League group stage
Credit – The Guardian

Germany’s Lotthär Matthäus has had heartbreak in the European Cup on a few occassions.

After his side Bayern Munich saw off Real Madrid in the 1987 semi-final, they took on Porto in the final in Vienna.

The Bavarians took the lead midway through the first half through Ludwig Kögl. However Porto scored twice in quick succession in the final 15 minutes, to deny Bayern and Matthäus the trophy.

The 1990 World Cup winner did get a second chance at European glory. 12 years later, aged 38, he started for Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final at the Camp Nou against Manchester United.

Bayern took the lead after six minutes through Mario Basler, and controlled the game throughout, hitting the woodwork twice.

With ten minutes remaining, Matthäus was substituted, from the bench he had to watch an almost identical repeat of his side’s collapse in 87′. Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s goals in stoppage time helped United complete the treble, and helped inflict more pain on the German legend.

Matthäus retired in 2000 and the following year Bayern Munich would finally lift the European Cup after they beat Valencia in the final at the San Siro.

Eric Cantona

Eric Cantona reached the Champions League semi-final with Manchester United in 1997. Here he is celebrating with Andy Cole
Credit – Football 365

Eric Cantona, was at Marseille for three seasons. However his playing time at the French side was restricted. He was left out of the squad for the 1991 European Cup final against Red Star Belgrade, in which Marseille lost 5-3 on penalties.

Marseille sold Cantona that summer to Nimes, however he would move to Leeds United six months later, where he would win the First Division title. But the Yorkshire side were knocked out by Rangers in the second round of the 1992/93 European Cup.

Cantona scored a consolation goal in the second leg, but 22 days later he moved to Leeds’ arch rivals, Manchester United, where he claimed four Premier League titles.

Cantona’s side struggled in the Champions League in the early 1990s, but in 1997 they reached the last four after thrashing Porto 4-0 in the quarter finals. They faced Borussia Dortmund , where United were beaten 2-0 over two legs by the eventual winners.

24 hours after the semi-final exit, Cantona informed manager Sir Alex Ferguson that he was retiring at the end of the season. Two years later as already mentioned, United lifted their second European Cup.

Gianluigi Buffon

Gianluigi Buffon in despair following the 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Cardiff
Credit – The Independent.ie

The Italian shotstopper has had his fairshare of pain in the European Cup over his 25 year career.

In his second season at Juventus he reached the Champions League final, where they faced fellow Italian giants AC Milan at Old Trafford.

With both sides’ deadlocked after 120 minutes, the 2003 final went to penalties. Buffon managed to save Clarence Seedorf’s and Kakha Kaladze’s spotkick, but was unable to keep out Andrey Shevchenko’s penalty as Milan won the shootout 3-2.

Buffon was then beaten 3-1 by Barcelona in the 2015 Champions League final in Berlin, which also denied Juve the treble.

But two years after the defeat to Barca the Bianchoneri reached the Champions League final again, where they faced record holders, and La Liga Champions Real Madrid.

But it would be another forgetful one for the Italian in Cardiff, as Juventus were beaten 4-1 by Zinedine Zidane’s side.

Buffon, now aged 42, is still playing for Juventus. Though in the twilight of his career, there’s still the possibility of success in this great competition.

Billy Bremner

Billy Bremner captained Leeds in the 1975 European Cup Final
Credit – National Football Museum

Billy Bremner captained Leeds United into the European Cup in 1969/70.

After victories over Lyn Oslo, which saw Leeds win 16-0 on aggregate, Ferencvaros and Standard Liege, they faced fellow British opponents, Celtic in the semi-finals. However the Scottish Champions’ ended Leeds’ European dream with a 3-1 aggregate win.

Bremner and Leeds would not return to Europe’s top table until the 1974/75 season. A 3-1 aggregate victory over Barcelona sent the Yorkshire side to the final in Paris, against Bayern Munich.

Unfortuantely for Leeds, goals from Franz Rothe and Gerd Müller gave Bayern a 2-0 victory at the Parc de Princes in what was an ugly affair, with crowd trouble making it a final to forget.

The late Billy Bremner left Leeds for Hull City the following year and Leeds would not play in the European Cup until 1992.

Ronaldo Nazario

Ronaldo’s performance at Old Trafford received applause by the United supporters
Credit – The Telegraph

Probably the most debatable on the list, but we’ll keep him on here anyway.

The ‘original’ Ronaldo has won almost every individual honour you could win in football minus the Champions League.

The Brazilian moved to Real Madrid from Inter in 2002, just a few months after Los Blancos triumph in the competition where they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in the final at Hampden Park. His most notable performance in Europe that season came in the quarter final second leg at Old Trafford. He scored a hat-trick at the Theatre of Dreams which helped Real to a 6-5 aggregate victory.

In the semi-final, Ronaldo’s 23rd minute opener helped the Spanish giants to a 2-1 first leg victory over Juventus. However, the return leg was a dissapointing one as Juventus defeated Real 3-1. Denying Real a third final in four seasons.

The semi-final would be the closest the striker would get to the final with Los Blancos. They were beaten in the 2004 quarter-finals by Monaco, which was followed by two round of 16 exits to Juve and Arsenal.

In the January transfer window of 2007, Ronaldo moved to Inter’s fiercest rivals Milan. Because he had already featured for Real Madrid in that seasons’ Champions League, it meant he was cup tied and unable to feature the Rossoneri.

Even without the Brazilian hitman, AC Milan made it to the final and two years after their defeat to Liverpool in Istanbul, they got their revenge with a 2-1 victory in Athens. Ronaldo did join in with the celebrations, but would not recieve a medal.

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Villas-Boas has signed a two-year contarct with the club and will officially take charge of the Ligue 1 club on the 1st July.

The Portuguese has been out of management since leaving Chinese Super League club Shanghai SIPG in 2017.

France will be the fifth country that the 41-year-old has managed in after managing both Porto and Academica in his native Portugal; Chelsea and Tottenham in England; While spending time in Russia with Zenit and Chinese club Shanghai SIPG.

Marseille announced Villas-Boas’ appointment on Tuesday with a tweet reading: “Our new era has begun.”

The club’s American owner Frank McCourt said this:

“We are delighted to hire a coach whose success is recognized at the highest level in Europe and around the world. André Villas-Boas’ philosophy and approach to the game aligns with what we want for OM and will help revitalize our project after a disappointing campaign. Our expectations are still great and we are making the changes necessary to achieve our goals. “

Villas-Boas replaces Rudi Garcia as the man in charge. With Garcia saying he will be leaving due to Marseille failing to qualify for a European competition for the first time in three years.

Garcia’s final game in charge was a narrow 1-0 win over Montpellier, with Marseille finishing in fifth place in Ligue 1, five points behind fourth place St-Etienne.

Garcia also led Marseille to the Europa League final last season which they ended up losing 3-0 to Atletico Madrid.

Villas-Boas was in charge of Chelsea before getting sacked nine months later in March 2012.

He then was appointed as Spurs manager in July 2012 and was sacked in December 2013.

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The Frenchman was capped 16 times for his country and scored the first goal of World Cup winning manager Didier Deschamps’ reign. Despite his talent, Diaby’s career was blighted by injury, suffering 36 injuries over a 13 year career.

He went to one major tournament with his country; the 2010 World Cup. Diaby started all three group stage matches for Les Blues. 

Diaby featured 180 times under Arsenal Wenger at Arsenal where he was often compared to Gunners legend Patrick Vieira due to his stature and presence in midfield. 

The box to box midfielder hasn’t played since 2017 and has decided to call his time on his footballing career.

Diaby scored 22 goals and recorded 18 assists over 202 professional appearances for Auxerre, Arsenal and Marseille.

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This was due to the crowd trouble that saw firecrackers thrown at home players in their last match at Stade Velodrome so the empty crowd was part of the punishment given by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) while they investigate the issue further.

Coach Rudi Garcia watched the game from the empty stands  due to the Frenchman serving the final game of his two-match touchline ban, his punishment for arguing with referee Amaury Delerue as his side lost 2-1 to Lille.

That being said the hosts had a huge advantage handed their way when Bordeaux defender Samuel Kalu was shown a red card for a two-footed tackle on winger Lucas Ocampos in the 25th minute.

Les Phoceens were able to win despite being without new signing Mario Balotelli who scored in their loss to Lille last month. The attacker was unable to feature in this match as it had been rescheduled from a time where the Italian played for fellow french side Nice.

Young defender Boubacar Kamara got the only goal and match winner in the 42nd minute as his header from close range gave the hosts the lead, which was almost doubled on two occasions.

Firstly Morgan Sanson hit the post just before the break, while Bouna Sarr put the ball into the back of the net in stoppage time only for it to be ruled out by VAR.

It’s the second time this season that the French side have had to play in an empty stadium as they were ordered by UEFA to play a home match against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League back in September for similar problems with the clubs conduct.

Garcia was angry that the match was played behind closed doors, he told BBC Sport:

“It’s bad, these matches behind closed doors are horrible. I said it the first time and it was horrible again this time,”

“It’s not football without supporters in the stadium. My suspension is also difficult but the most important thing was the absence of the fans.”

Marseille’s win moves them up to seventh as they continue there hunt for European football. They leapfrogged Stade de Reims, OGC Nice and Stade Rennais in the process while Bordeaux stay 12th in the league.

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The French side are under investigation as to why firecrackers were thrown on the pitch at the Stade Velodrome.

The French football governing body Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) have ordered the south French side to play behind closed doors as they investigate the problems that occurred in their league loss to Lille.

Firecrackers were thrown onto the pitch in the 79th minute with Lille beating the hosts 1-0 following a Nicolas Pépé penalty. The objects that were thrown exploded close to Marseille players Jordan Amavi and Kevin Strootman.

The incident can be seen here:

? Revivez l’incident qui a arrêté la rencontre.
#OM vs #LOSC 1-2 #OMLOSC.
? #Marseille vs #Lille #TeamOM #myOM ? pic.twitter.com/SI4k4pvWoi

— L’OM Supporters (@LOMSupporters) January 26, 2019

This held the game up for 38 minutes on Friday night. The incident forced referee Amaury Delerue to take both players off the field fearing for their safety.

A statement from the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) said:

“Because of the nature and gravity of the facts, the committee has decided to investigate the case and during this process, as a safety measure, to play all games at the Orange Velodrome behind closed doors.”

Trouble had occurred in the club’s last home match after the home side were forced to close the north corner of the Orange Velodrome for the “use of pyrotechnic devices and the use of a laser”. The rule was again forced by LFP and was set to last against Bordeaux in their next home game.

The match started with drama as the game had a 10-minute strike from home supporters in protest at the sides American owner Frank McCourt and coach Rudi Garcia.

With fans of Marseille calling for Garcia to be sacked, the match wasn’t helped by the use of VAR that ruled two decisions against the hosts. The first was in the third minute, as the midfielder was denied his first goal for the club as a review found the player in an offside position in the build-up.

The second decision was the penalty that Pépé scored initially this was given as a corner after the host’s captain Luiz Gustavo dived in on Mehmet Zeki Celik. Again after in the intervention of VAR the official pointed to the spot with keeper Steve Mandanda being beaten.

The Ligue 1 clash was a vicious affair with nine yellow cards between the two sides. Winger Florian Thauvin was sent off for two bookable offences in the 67th minute which added to the home side’s fans’ anger.

Lille won 2-1 with Pépé getting a second while Mario Balotelli who had just joined the club got a consolation for Marseille on his debut.

The result leaves Marseille seventh in the league, with one win since late November. That’s seen them be knocked out of three cup competitions including finishing bottom of their Europa League group with only one point.

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The Italian forward had only featured nine times for Patrick Vieria’s men and failed to score a single goal this season before making the switch to the south of France.

Balotelli enjoyed a successful first two seasons with Nice scoring 42 goals in 64 appearances before his form tailed off during the current campaign.

He is expected to earn around £2.7 million in wages during his six-month spell at the Stade Vélodrome.

The former Manchester City striker had attracted interest from some Premier League clubs with West Ham United rumoured to be interested in the 28-year-old.

Balotelli could make his debut for Marseille on Friday when they square off in a huge Ligue 1 clash against Lille.

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