"That's where I lost it": Fiorèse reveals the moment everything changed with Halilhodzic at PSG

Fiorèse reveals he rejected the captaincy at PSG in summer 2004 after Halilhodzic asked him to report dressing-room gossip, leading to his departure for Marseille.

In an interview on the Riolo Club podcast, former PSG attacker Fabrice Fiorèse recounted the moment his relationship with the club fractured in summer 2004. After two successful seasons and finishing second in Ligue 1, with 12 assists that campaign, Fiorèse was offered the captain's armband by manager Vahid Halilhodzic.

However, when Halilhodzic told him that as captain he would need to report everything happening in the dressing room back to the manager, Fiorèse refused. "That's where I lost it," Fiorèse said. "I told him: 'How could you think a guy like me would repeat everything that happens in the dressing room to you?'"

Fiorèse, who had just received a salary increase following his strong performances, believes Halilhodzic interpreted his rejection of the armband combined with the pay rise as a sign he should leave. "He thought that because I'd had my salary improved and I wasn't accepting the armband, I had to go," Fiorèse explained.

On 31 August 2004, he departed PSG for Marseille, the club's fierce rivals, though he acknowledged he might have handled the situation differently. His spell at the Stade Vélodrome proved difficult, lasting just one season before he left.