Chamakh dreams of happy ending

After a summer of speculation, FC Girondins de Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh and his coach Laurent Blanc are desperate for the sought-after Moroccan to end his time in the south of France on a high.

One more year
His added-time goal in Bordeaux's 4-1 victory against RC Lens on the opening day of the season looked like the perfect way for Chamakh to bid farewell to the Stade Chaban-Delmas. More than a month later, however, and the 25-year-old is still with Bordeaux despite reputed overtures from England. Chamakh has been at the club throughout his career but a move to the Premier League looked to be on the cards during the summer amid interest from the likes of Arsenal FC. The Moroccan international had previously expressed his intention to leave towards the end of last term but duly changed his mind on the day Les Girondins won the French title for the first time in ten years, claiming: "I want to stay for one more year."

Blanc relief
A sprightly start to that final season has taken Chamakh's overall goal tally for the club to 49 in 199 league games, and Bordeaux to the top of the table, further underlining his importance to Blanc. "We cannot recruit seven, eight or nine players," said Blanc. "The only way to maintain or raise our level was to keep our best players. Marouane was one of them. We had a deal with him that if a big club came in and offered something that was good for his development, then we would let him go. If this was not the case, stay with us one more year. This is what happened so I am really happy."

Fully focused
The likes of Yoann Gourcuff and Alou Diarra also stayed put, leaving Chamakh, who becomes a free agent next summer, to ponder the prospect of moving to pastures new on the back of another successful campaign. "In the meantime, I'm fully focused on Bordeaux's season and really want to leave on a high, should I leave," he said.

Mutual respect
After the opening 1-1 draw at Juventus, next up in UEFA Champions League Group A is the visit of Israeli titleholders Maccabi Haifa FC on Wednesday. "They were among the potential teams that we could have played, as they were in pot four," said Blanc. "They are a team with many qualities – we do not know them much because they do not get much coverage, but they are one of the best teams in the Israeli League. They have talent, and they deserve to be playing in this Champions League as well. We have respect for this club, the same as for Bayern and Juve."