Rabiot's troublesome departure from Marseille benefitted the team, says Marseille coach Roberto de Zerbi
Rabiot was dismissed from the team after an "extremely violent" fight against a teammate after a defeat.
On August 15, 2025, in a Ligue 1 defeat between for Marseille against Rennes, players Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe engaged in what was described as an "English pub fight" by Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi, with Marseille president Pablo Longoria saying it was "extremely violent", with one of them apparently losing consciousness. As a consequence, both players were removed from the squad and later sold: Rabiot to AC Milan and Rowe to Bologna.
Two months after, despite that defeat, Marseille is second in Ligue 1, only behind PSG, and Roberto de Zerbi says that the team is better now without Rabiot. "It did us good, because the club chose to do without Rabiot, who didn't want to take a step back", de Zerbi said to Corriere della Sera (via RMC Sport).
This comes two days after Rabiot, who has returned to France for the international team, said that he felt betrayed from the team and that couldn't explain himself, adding that he is not a violent person and still receives messages of support from OM fans.
