Marseille boss De Zerbi denies Milan talks amid reported player mutiny

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi says he wants to stay on at the French league club and insisted Friday that he has not been contacted by other clubs despite reports of a player mutiny and interest from AC Milan.

Speaking during a conference Friday, De Zerbi said he is "not flirting with any team."

"At the moment I have no desire to leave," De Zerbi said. "My intention is to stay here for many years. Since it takes two to make a marriage, we still need to see a lot of things, and how we finish in the league."

Marseille has developed an attractive and effective style of play under De Zerbi but has been going through a bad patch of results, losing four of its past five matches. The team, however, remains in third place in the French league standings, in a position to qualify for next season's Champions League ahead of Sunday's match against Toulouse.

According to L'Equipe, De Zerbi has been facing criticism from his players, who are questioning his authoritative methods. The sports daily reported that De Zerbi was so angry with his team after a loss at Reims that he refused to run a training session this week, leaving it to his staff, and that the club's director of football had to intervene to diffuse the dispute as many players felt humiliated.

"I know when it's time to hug my players and when it's time to be a little stronger," De Zerbi said. "I'm not afraid, I'm ready to do anything for my job. That's what I want to pass on to the team. I don't want everyone's approval, but everything has to be done at 100%."

Meanwhile, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that De Zerbi is now the favorite to take over at Milan, with Massimiliano Allegri and Antonio Conte also considered for the job.

Since American owner Frank McCourt bought Marseille in 2016, the former powerhouse of French soccer has failed to find any form of stability, with a succession of coaches and crises that sometimes turned violent.

The club has changed coach 30 times since the beginning of the century, the highest total of any top-flight team in France in that period. The 1993 Champions League winner missed out on European qualification after finishing eighth in the French league last season.

Marseille dominated domestic soccer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is the only French team to win the Champions League but hasn't won the domestic league since 2010.

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