Marcelo Bielsa has revealed that Marseille are able to cancel the two-year deal they announced upon his appointment after just one season.
- Gignac hoping for more of the same
Bielsa took charge at the Stade Velodrome this summer after signing what was declared to be a two-year contract by the 1993 European champions.
However, the former Athletic Bilbao boss, who recently publicly criticised Marseille's summer transfer policy, has said that he is only certain to remain at the club for a year.
"There's no option for a second year. I wanted that, vis-a-vis the club, to give them the time to evaluate me. I asked for it," Bielsa is quoted as saying by RMC.
"At my previous club in Spain, I could have signed for several years. In my opinion, it's too much of a constraint on the club. In my specific case, the prestige of the club is far superior to my own."
Bielsa's comments did, however, raise a problem given the charter of the French coaches' union, UNECATEF, states clubs are obliged to provide a two-year contract.
"It's true what you say, and that is why there is a two-year contract with a cancellation clause after a year," Bielsa added. "I can therefore announce with authority an automatic cancellation clause after a year.
"The clause is for both parties, but as I have already made my decision, and that I make it public, I cannot be more clear."
Marseille, currently top of the Ligue 1 table, take on 15th-placed Reims on Tuesday at the Stade Auguste-Delaune.