On the eve of Villarreal-PSG in the Champions League, the Senegal international midfielder Pape Gueye has recounted how his mother pushed him to sign for OM in 2020 rather than join Paris Saint-Germain.
The 27-year-old Senegal international midfielder faces on Tuesday, at 21:00 (Paris time), the club that courted him as a youngster: PSG, in the Champions League. In an interview reported by Sport.fr and L’Équipe, he looks back on a career choice that owes a great deal to his family.
For although PSG tried to sign him young, it was ultimately to Marseille that the former Le Havre academy player put pen to paper in the summer of 2020. A decision he now recounts bluntly, on the eve of crossing paths with the Parisians in the Villarreal shirt.
The maternal veto of 2020
The story goes back to Le Blanc-Mesnil, in Seine-Saint-Denis, where Gueye grew up in a family devoted to the Marseille cause. When Marseille came calling in the summer of 2020, the choice seemed obvious to him. And with good reason: his mother made the call for him. “When I received the offer, my mother told me: ‘It’s OM or nothing!’”, the player told Sport.fr. The midfielder now appreciates what that shirt represents: “You can’t ignore it when you wear the OM shirt,” he added.
The Paris club, however, kept pushing. According to Sport.fr, PSG were still courting him right up to the final moments before he signed for Marseille. Earlier, invited for a trial, he had already favoured the Le Havre academy, for its reputation and the place it gave to schooling.
The Parc, Neymar and a booking
Gueye’s name remains tied to an evening in September 2020: his first win against PSG, at the Parc des Princes (1-0). A starter for only his second Ligue 1 match, he retains a memorable memory of it. That night, a tackle on Neymar earned him a yellow card, an episode he still remembers.
Six years later, he faces the club that courted him before seeing him sign elsewhere. Villarreal have made an encouraging start to their Champions League campaign, with a win against Napoli (3-1).
Measuring himself against the elite
Beyond that memory, Gueye also intends to gauge his level. “I also want to measure myself against the best midfielders in the world, to show that I can compete with them, that I perhaps have my place in that kind of team,” he told Sport.fr.
These comments, published on the eve of the match, shed light on how the Senegal midfielder is approaching this Champions League fixture, scheduled for Tuesday 3 November 2026 at 21:00, Paris time.