Ribery and his Agent Part Ways, and It’s Not Pretty

May 3rd, 2007 | by: Laurie |

Franck Ribéry , the Marseille winger/midfielder everybody wants in the upcoming transfer period, has reportedly dumped his agent, Bruno Heiderscheid, claiming he had a “loss of confidence” and was “ill-advised” last summer, when rumors were linking him to a transfer to Olympique Lyonnais.

I’m vaguely remembering that this botched transfer led to his house being broken into and caused him to require police protection in Marseille, so it’s not all that surprising that he’s still a bit upset. There’s also something about Heiderscheid and tax evasion, but I’m not finding details.

And to make things even more interesting, Heiderscheid may be suing Franck for slander.

Franck has been linked to a possible summer move to Lyon, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Manchester United or Real Madrid. There’s also the chance he could stay at Marseille if they qualify for Champions League next year. Olympique de Marseille is currently sitting fourth in Ligue 1.

He’s in no hurry to bring in a new agent and is currently being advised by his father. This is not surprising, since his price went way up after the World Cup last year, and anybody involved with his upcoming transfer stands to make a bundle. Rather than taking on a new agent, why not keep those Euros all in the family?

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http://lyon.theoffside.com/ Inara

I doubt Ribery will stay in Marseille even if they do make it into the CL. He’s “only” the sixth highest paid player in France, with a paycheck at about 4.4 million, and I’m sure he’d get more at a place like Real or Arsenal.

And as much as I like Franck, I don’t think he’s that sentimentally attached to Marseille that he’d turn down a better offer.
rach

I found this news update to this story:
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/france/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=international_feed/07/05/04/SOCCER_Fra-Ribery.html&TEAMHD=france

If it’s true, it may not be a bad move for Ribery. I’ve come across some soundbites from Zidane’s agent before and he seems to be quite a patient and perceptive person, not to mention the experience he has in this area.

Above all, I hope Ribery doesn’t pull a Nicholas Anelka and waste some of his prime playing years constantly club-hopping.
http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie

Rach, I’ve also mentally made the Ribery-Anelka club-hopping link and I hope the same thing. Anelka seems to be ending up okay, but think where he could be if he’d focused all his energies on playing beautifully for one team. I’m hoping our Franck settles down soon.