Juventus general manager Damien Comolli has forcefully responded to the allegations made by Tim Weah’s agent regarding his proposed move to Marseille, defending the Serie A club and shifting the blame onto the U.S. men’s national team forward.
Weah’s representative Badou Sambague went public with his disdain for Juventus earlier this week, accusing the Turin outfit of showing “total disrespect”. The USMNT international did not join up with Mauricio Pochettino’s Gold Cup roster so that he could be available for Juve during this summer’s Club World Cup. He featured for just 45 minutes.
Sambague claimed that an unnamed member of Juve’s hierarchy deliberately “botched” Weah’s tournament and “tried to force him to go where he wanted”. “Today,” Sambague continued, “as revenge, he’s demanding a fortune and waiting for a Premier League offer that won’t come and will never be approved by us.”
Comolli was keen to quash those accusations. “We deserve respect, we give respect to everyone,” the club chief seethed to Sky Italia. “The players are being looked after, no one is being pushed aside.”
Weah is thought to be pushing for a move to Marseille, yet Comolli questioned whether such a deal is even possible.
“When you come out strongly and say I want to join one club, and only one club, you need to make sure that club backs you up,” he warned. “If that club doesn’t back you up, what do you do? You are in a corner and have nowhere else to go.
“You said very loud that you only want to go to Marseille, but what happens if Marseille is not there for you?”
“The player wants to go to Marseille, but in soccer you can’t choose a team because if the right offer doesn’t arrive, you stay on the sidelines,” Comolli added. “And the offer hasn’t arrived yet.”
Weah was linked with a move to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League earlier this summer, with an agreement for the forward and his teammate Samuel Mbangula worth around $25.6 million thought to have been struck in June. Those negotiations ultimately fell through and Weah remains floating in transfer limbo.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘We Deserve Respect’—USMNT’s Tim Weah Slammed by Own Club for Transfer Stance.