Taarabt eager to make Marseille switch

Adel Taarabt is hoping to leave Benfica to relaunch his career and is already eying a move to Marseille.

Taarabt joined the Lisbon club last year from QPR following a loan spell at AC Milan but has fallen out of favour.

The 27-year-old is desperate to move on and eager to return to France, the country where he grew up and started his career with Lens.

He told France Football: “I just want a club that has trust in me. We are in talks with several clubs.”

On Marseille, he added: “It is the city where I grew up, where my parents live. It would be nice to go back home, to my family.

“For me it would be the perfect club, the one I need. With the experience I have, I know what a club like OM would expect of me.

“If I did go back, it would not be for fun. It would be nice to return to France, I miss it. I have been abroad for 10 years.”

Taarabt has a reputation for lacking the application to match his undoubted ability but the former Tottenham attacking midfielder insists his freezing out at the Estadio da Luz is through no fault of his own.

“The situation here is difficult,” he said.

“At first it was an interesting challenge, they wanted me as a replacement for Nico Gaitan but he stayed and only joined Atletico Madrid this summer.

“On top of that, when I signed Jorge Jesus was coach but then, a month later, he joined Sporting CP. A new coach arrived [Rui Vitoria] and I do not fit into his plans.

“I train and train but he does not give me a chance, even in friendly matches. I am not a player he chooses.”