Marseille have confirmed the signing of midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia from Atletico Madrid on a four-year contract.
The 30-year-old arrives at the Orange Velodrome following a successful three-year spell with Los Rojiblancos, during which he became a La Liga champion in his debut season.
However, Kondogbia did not manage to become a regular starter for Diego Simeone, and he was given the green light to depart before his contract expired in 2024.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were believed to have been keeping a close eye on Kondogbia's situation, but the Central African Republic international only had eyes for a switch to Marseille.
As a result, Les Olympiens moved to conclude an €8m (£6.9m) deal for Kondogbia, and the lynchpin has now officially joined on a long-running deal until the end of the 2026-27 season.
Kondogbia returns to France eight years after his departure from Monaco to sign for Inter Milan, prior to which he represented Sevilla and Lens, coming through the latter's academy ranks.
💥 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐛𝐢𝐚 est olympien ! 🏛
— Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) June 30, 2023
Le milieu de terrain 🇨🇫 est 𝐥𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞̀𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞 de l'#OdysséeMASSALIA 23/24 🪨🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/jZL6MO8cfg
Stints with Inter Milan, Valencia and Atletico soon followed for the 30-year-old, who departs the Madrid giants having recorded one goal and four assists in 93 matches across all tournaments.
Kondogbia set up two goals in 27 matches during the 2022-23 campaign, but he only started 10 matches in La Liga and a further two in Los Rojiblancos' short-lived Champions League run.
The 2020-21 La Liga title represents one of three major honours that Kondogbia has won at senior level, having also been crowned Europa League champion with Sevilla in 2014 and becoming a Copa del Rey winner with Valencia in 2019.
The 30-year-old was also a part of the Under-20 France team to become world champions in 2013, and he subsequently played five friendly games for Les Bleus' senior team before pledging allegiance to the Central African Republic.
Since his switch, Kondogbia has scored two goals in 11 appearances for the Central African Republic, wearing the captain's armband on eight occasions and most recently netting in a 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying defeat to Angola on June 17.
Kondogbia becomes Marseille's first new arrival of the summer transfer window and reunites with former head coach Marcelino, whom he worked under during his time at Valencia.
The former Lens youngster will compete with the likes of Valentin Rongier, Jordan Veretout, Azzedine Ounahi and Matteo Guendouzi for midfield starts, although the latter's future is still up in the air amid links with a return to the Premier League.
Ben Knapton
