Marseille coach Eric Gerets has vowed he will do all he can to stop former Liverpool forward Djibril Cisse from returning to England.Marseille have completed a deal for Nice forward Bakari Kone after a drawn-out transfer saga between the two Mediterranean clubs.

Reports in France had suggested Marseille would look to sell players to finance the deal, and highlighted Cisse as one player who could make way, with Bolton and West Ham reportedly monitoring the situation closely.

It is believed the French international is keen to move back to the Premier League as his wife still lives in England.

But while Gerets admitted he understood the player's situation, he insisted he would fight to keep Cisse in the south of France.

"If it's for personal reasons I wouldn't be opposed to his departure," Gerets told regional newspaper La Provence.

However he added: "I'm only going to fight to make sure he stays here."

Gerets also denied he had any personal problems with the player after it was reported Cisse had been involved in an altercation on the training ground with new signing Hatem Ben Arfa.

"Everyone says he's a difficult person, but I've never had any problem with him," Gerets explained.

"He brings lots of things to our team, he scores plenty of goals and weighs in with a number of assists."

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