Jonathan Clauss has confirmed that he did reject a move to Chelsea before joining Marseille this summer.
The 29-year-old claims he didn’t want to be a bit-part player so he opted to remain in France where he could continue starting matches:
“I didn’t want to sign for Chelsea to one day say I signed for Chelsea. It was really to try and keep playing, to discover the Champions League. Marseille ticked all the boxes I was looking for.”
Fans on Twitter felt that Clauss‘s comments were fair and honest, as there was very little chance that he could displace wingback Reece James as first-choice:
Knows his levels …. Never going to move Reece 💙
— AndyRog1611💙 (@aroma1611) September 21, 2022
Fair enough
— Adz⭐️⭐️ (@CFCAdz19) September 21, 2022
He knows RJ is a beast at RB so he opted not to get benched in this his prime age
— Ebenezer Obumneme (@Obumjnr21) September 21, 2022
Fairs. We’ll always have this problem in signing RBs because of Reece James
— Otuz (@otutochi) September 21, 2022
In other words, this dude says he knows he couldn’t have survived at Chelsea especially with competition
— VIRGO 🔥🔥👌👌 (@HELLOTrinity3) September 21, 2022
Understandable, he would be reece back up
— 𝙅𝙍 (@K2sznn) September 21, 2022
Fairs. Go to where you can play. Makes sense.
— Jay Emmanuel (@JEB_CFC) September 21, 2022
Makes sense. His competition to earn a starting spot is Reece James.
— Lincoln Laya (@LFury97) September 21, 2022
that’s a very good answer
— cfc95 (@cfc952) September 21, 2022
It’s actually rare that players turn down a higher-status club and more money, but Clauss seems to have made the right decision for his career.
The wingback is starting regularly for Marseille, while France head coach Didier Deschamps has included him in his squad for the Nations League games against Austria and Denmark this week.
Chelsea are likely still eyeing potential backup for James, and we may see a new addition being brought in during the January transfer window to help take some of the weight off the England international’s shoulders.
