Marseille’s Bakari Kone Admits He Could Follow Erik Gerets To Saudi Arabia

Livewire Ivorian forward Bakari Kone has admitted that he could follow former Olympique de Marseille head coach Erik Gerets to the Middle East as he is unsure whether he will truly gain the trust of Didier Deschamps, who has recently taken over team affairs at the Stade Velodrome.

Kone featured 28 times in league play under Gerets last season and mustered an impressive nine strikes, this coming after registering 14 times in 30 games for Nice in the previous campaign. But despite having enjoyed one relatively fruitful campaign with les Aiglons’ neighbours, he could be on the verge of cutting short his stay with OM.

“I could follow him, just as I could not follow him,” Kone replied to newspaper L’Expansion when asked if he thought moving to Al-Hilal to work under his former tutor was a possibility. “He trusted me and that motivated me. He knew he could count on me at any moment.”

However, Kone has promised to work hard to gain the belief of ‘DD’. “Even if Deschamps doubts me, I’ll get him to trust me,” he said. “For now, I do not ask any questions. I know that if I play as usual, I will gain [his] trust without a problem.”

Kone’s place in Marseille’s side has come under question after reports that Deschamps is seeking addition striking options after reinforcing the defensive sector of his side with the additions of Lucho Gonzalez, Edouard Cisse and Souleymane Diawara.

Robin Bairner, Goal.com