
Gignac set to return to Marseille squad
Striker Andre-Pierre Gignac can return to play for Marseille providing he apologizes to his teammates for his behavior after being left out for a Champions League game.
Gignac has been ordered to stay away from the first team since Thursday after insulting coach Didier Deschamps in front of other players when he failed to make the lineup for the previous night's game against Olympiakos.
He also reportedly reproached Deschamps for a failed offseason transfer to Fulham and for sending him to a slimming clinic.
Deschamps, Gignac and the club president Vincent Labrune held peace talks on Tuesday.
''Following these meetings, it has been agreed that the player will return to the first-team squad on Wednesday morning after apologizing to the whole of the squad,'' the French club said in a statement on its web site.
Gignac cost Marseille €16.5 million ($22 million) when he joined before the start of last season, but has never shown anything like the form of his earlier days and has lost his place in the France team.
Marseille beat bitter rival Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 on Sunday night to finally give its fans something to cheer about. Following a difficult start to the season, Marseille is in ninth place and trails leader Montpellier by 12 points.
There have reportedly been tensions behind the scenes between Deschamps and Jose Anigo, Marseille's sporting director and a long-serving member of the club.
Deschamps has acknowledged publicly for the first time that he does not get on with Anigo.
''I have no dealings with him,'' Deschamps said Monday on RTL radio, without explaining the reason for his feud with Anigo.