Gignac heals rift with Deschamps

The Marseilles striker André-Pierre Gignac has apologised for clashing with coach Didier Deschamps last week and has been reintegrated into the first team squad, the Ligue 1 club said yesterday.

The forward missed Sunday's morale-boosting 3-0 home win over Paris St-Germain because of the club suspension and media reports said he was likely to be offloaded in January, having almost joined Fulham in the close season.

"The Marseilles president Vincent Labrune and coach Didier Deschamps have met André-Pierre Gignac this morning,"a club statement said. "Following the meeting, it has been decided that the player will be reintegrated into the first team group on Wednesday morning having apologised."

Marseilles, the 2010 French champions, suffered a poor start to this season and looked in crisis before the PSG match given the Gignac affair and a home Champions League defeat by Olympiakos. Sunday's win, which knocked big-spending PSG off top spot and lifted Marseilles to ninth, has transferred the pressure between the rivals with Paris coach Antoine Kombouaré's job now under scrutiny.

David Beckham has been linked with PSG following the club's purchase by Qatari investors in May and reports have suggested Claude Makelele, Carlo Ancelotti or Guus Hiddink could replace Kombouaré, who has been in place since before the takeover.