The China Mail - Tudor ends reign at turbulent Marseille

"We have accepted and respected the wish of our coach Igor Tudor not to continue the adventure next season," Longoria said.

With one round to play Marseille are certain to finish third in Ligue 1, earning them a place in the preliminary round of the Champions League next season.

"I took this decision to leave for professional and private reasons," Tudor, a 45-year-old Croatian, said.

"I have no agreement with any other club. I'm not leaving because I'm angry with someone."

Tudor was Marseille's fifth coach since the club was acquired by Frank McCourt in October 2016.

Only Rudi Garcia stayed for more than two years. Nasser Larguet was an interim coach. The other three, Andre Villas-Boas, Jorge Sampaoli and now Tudor all chose to leave after 18 months or less.

Tudor was appointed in July 2022 to replace Argentine Sampaoli.

"It was an honour to spend a year at such a club, to be part of this great family, with tifosi you don't see very often, an energy in the city you don't see very often," said Tudor.

"I'm leaving the club in a better situation than when I arrived, in many ways, and I'm leaving proud."

Tudor, a defensive midfielder who played 55 times for Croatia and spent seven seasons in his first spell at Juventus, was greeted with a chorus of whistles in his first home Ligue 1 campaign, a draw with Rennes.

But while Marseille were second in Ligue 1 as late as the end of April, they could not keep pace with leaders Paris Saint-Germain and were overhauled in the last month by Lens,

While Tudor did secure a first home victory over PSG in a decade, in the French Cup in February they crashed out in the quarterfinals to second-division Annecy.

They also finished bottom of their Champions League group.

With Marseille set to start next season on August 8-9 with a Champions League preliminary round tie, Longoria will have to move quickly to find a successor.

Tudor could return to Italy, where he has coached Verona and Udinese. Earlier Thursday, Tuttosport, a daily newspaper, reported that he was Juventus' first choice if current coach Massimiliano Allegri were to leave.

G.Tsang--ThChM