Balerdi describes six years at OM as "love-hate" relationship before whistled exit

Leonardo Balerdi left Olympique de Marseille this summer after six seasons and 200 official matches to join AS Roma, where he quickly impressed, notably against Torino in Serie A — a performance praised by his manager Gian Piero Gasperini, who compared him to Franco Baresi.

In a recent interview, the 27-year-old Argentine defender gave a nuanced assessment of his time on the Canebière. “I don’t know if it’s fair or not. But yes, I found it was a bit of a love-hate relationship,” he said. Praised by some of the crowd and criticized by others, Balerdi says he drew on both feelings to move forward: “Sometimes, I felt there were many people who loved me. And other times, I felt there were people who hated me. But I took the love from people to motivate myself and the other feeling too, I took it as energy.”

His departure itself left a mark. During a friendly match against Atlético de Madrid, his last appearance at the Vélodrome, he was heavily whistled by the Marseille crowd. “It was a difficult moment, I didn’t want to end like that,” he admitted, before adding: “But I’m not staying with that, I take all the things I experienced in Marseille, the good and the bad. That will help me for the future. I also hold on to the love that supporters gave me for six years, that’s the most important thing.”

An Argentine international with eleven caps, Balerdi embodied a certain continuity in a club often marked by instability. He justified his decision to leave by the need for a new challenge: “Six years in a club is a lot. Six years at OM is something that not everyone does in our era. I felt it was the moment to experience another championship.”