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MARSEILLE: Marseille's veteran Argentinian defender Gabriel Heinze confirmed on Friday that he would be leaving the French first division club at the end of the season.
The 33-year-old, who touched down in Marseille in the summer of 2010 from Real Madrid, insisted his decision to leave was not financially driven but came out of ambition, although he said he had not been in contact with any other club.
“I think in a completely different way than the club owners,” he said.
“It's not a question of money, which is not everything in life. It's a question of the project.
“(Coach) Didier Deschamps made me come here while speaking of the project, and I see that this project will not carry on. The difference lies with the ambition of the project. It's better for me to leave.
“I feel I'm doing the club a favour by leaving,” said Heinze, whose 400,000 euro a month salary makes him one of Marseille's highest paid players.
The next three seasons will see Marseille suffer a 20-million-euro shortfall as they set about renovating their Velodrome stadium.
Heinze, who made a bitter exit from Manchester United in 2007 after three seasons there, was a member both of Argentina's 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning side and also the 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads which went out both times in the quarter-finals.
