Ayew celebrates birthday with new Marseille deal

André Ayew has committed his immediate future to Olympique de Marseille after agreeing to extend his stay with the Ligue 1 club until 2015.

Ayew, who turned 22 on Saturday, has been rewarded for a series of impressive performances this season with a one-year extension to his current deal. The Ghanaian international, who has scored six league goals this season, has helped Marseille recover from a disappointing start to their domestic campaign and scored a crucial late equalising goal against Borussia Dortmund earlier this month, as Didier Deschamps's charges came from behind to win their matchday six encounter against the German champions and qualify for the UEFA Champions League knockout stage in dramatic fashion.

Ayew, whose brother Jordan is also on OM's books, has strong ties to the club he joined as an academy graduate in 2007 as he is the son of former Marseille and Ghana striker Abédi Pelé. Regarded as one of the club's brightest prospects the 22-year-old, who was a FIFA Under-20 World Cup winner with Ghana in 2009, has scored 16 goals in 62 league appearances and been on target three times in Europe's premier club competition this term.

Marseille, who moved up to eighth place in Ligue 1 with a last-gasp win against FC Lorient on Saturday, will host FC Internazionale Milano in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie on 22 February, with the return in Milan on 13 March.