Amir Murillo will face Marseille in Istanbul on Thursday with an old grievance still close to the surface. The Panama international says his February exit from the French club was driven by a personal rupture with Roberto De Zerbi, rather than by any issue with OM or its squad.
Murillo says Marseille departure was forced before Besiktas reunion
Headline: Amir Murillo revisits Marseille exit before Besiktas clash
SEO Title: Amir Murillo says Marseille exit was forced before Besiktas-OM
Meta Description: Former Marseille defender Amir Murillo says a dispute with Roberto De Zerbi led to his move to Besiktas ahead of Thursday’s Europa League meeting with OM.
Besiktas host Bruno Genesio’s Marseille in the opening round of the Europa League, with kick-off scheduled for 21:00 in Istanbul. Murillo, who joined the Turkish side during the final days of the winter transfer window, will meet his former club for the first time.
The 30-year-old right-back was sold for €5 million after expecting to finish the campaign on the Mediterranean coast. He said the breakdown had been visible during his time under De Zerbi, who left Marseille only a week after Murillo’s departure.
“Everyone could see there was a problem between me and the coach,” Murillo said. “It had nothing to do with the club or the team. I felt it was something personal from the manager, and in a way I saw it as a lack of respect. I was more or less pushed out of Marseille, and that is how I ended up at Besiktas.”
The 1.85m defender, who has 97 Panama caps and nine international goals, is under contract at Besiktas until 2028. He has made 25 appearances in all competitions since arriving, scoring four times and providing two assists.
Europa League test for Marseille after Ligue 1 slide
Besiktas qualified for the Europa League after finishing fourth in last season’s Süper Lig. Their league-phase programme also includes Hoffenheim, Crystal Palace, Celtic, Hapoel Beer Sheva, Bayer Leverkusen, Union Saint-Gilloise and Omonia Nicosia.
Marseille arrive in Turkey on the back of three successive Ligue 1 defeats, giving the match a sharper edge for a side looking to halt its domestic decline under Genesio.
De Zerbi struggling at Tottenham
While Murillo prepares for a European night against his former team, De Zerbi is enduring a difficult start at Tottenham. The Italian, appointed Spurs manager in March, has yet to win a Premier League match this season.
Despite a summer transfer spend close to €370 million, Tottenham had scored no league goals after four rounds. Their latest result was a goalless home draw with Everton, leaving the 47-year-old under increasing pressure.
De Zerbi described the issue as a “mental block” after the Everton match. He said Tottenham needed to sustain their level for the full match and improve in the final third, particularly through better choices, final passes and a greater willingness to shoot.
The former Marseille coach insisted he had no complaints about his players, adding that he had inherited a troubled situation when he arrived last season and had always tried to be realistic about the scale of the task.
