It is not yet clear if Marseille midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa will dump the club and move to England as speculated since he has refused to show any commitment to his club since the season kicked off.
Arfa missed training for a second straight day on Friday as he held out for a transfer to English Premier League side Newcastle.
The reigning French champions have insisted that they will not sell the 23-year-old France international despite mounting speculation that he was about to join the newly-promoted side.
Sources close to Ben Arfa said that the player had stayed away from training on Friday and would not travel with the rest of the squad to Valenciennes in northeast France for Saturday’s league game.
Marseille lost their season opener 2-1 at home to Caen last weekend.