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According to Marca and L'Equipe , on February 2nd, on-loan Silva was sitting on the bus ready to go play Montpelier when he was told to get off the bus. Per the same reports, the squad and technical staff were left taken a-back at what had transpired.
On February 8th, it was reported that the Brazilian was no longer part of Marseille's Europa League squad.
Since then, the former Cruziero mid-fielder has come out to the media to clear any misinformation.
He took to Facebook and wrote,
"During the last day of the winter transfer window, I took my place on the team bus with my teammates. Because of a possible transfer being negotiated, I was led to move in accordance with the transaction taking place. In this way, the Marseille directors advised me to stay in Marseille and not to travel with the team. I was never kicked off the bus as some media outlets announced."
He also added,
"There were certainly teams in Brazil interested in signing me and I thank them. However it's not in Real Madrid's interest or mine to return to Brazil at the moment. I would like to thank Real Madrid for their support during this process. I'll take this occasion to reaffirm that I will stay at Marseille until end of my contract with the club. I've decided to stay in Marseille because I believe I should go to the end of the commitments that I've made. I've always taken up challenges and I always take them on with courage."
Marseille Manager Michel has also come forward to provide further context to what had happened.
He stated,
"If he was removed from the list for the Europa League, it's because there are still negotiations ongoing with the Brazilian market."
At the moment it looks like the story has been set straight, but the way Marseille handled it was poor. Other reports suggest that Marseille's president is unhappy with Lucas Silva's performances. From the outside looking in, it appears as if Lucas Silva has been frozen out of the team. This will hinder his development as a player and affect his future at Real Madrid.