Eliesse Ben Seghir revealed that his path could have been very different, admitting he broke down in tears when his family blocked a move to Olympique Marseille in his youth, fearing the environment was too risky.
The Moroccan international, who joined Bayer Leverkusen this summer for 32 million euros, shared this emotional memory in an interview with Afrikick.
As a teenager, he dreamed of wearing the OM shirt and following in the footsteps of his older brother Salim, but his parents chose caution over passion. “I cried when they told me I wasn’t going to OM,” he confessed, explaining that his family wanted to “choose safety first” and did not see Marseille as the ideal place for a young player to grow at that time.
What felt like heartbreak later proved to be a turning point. Instead, Ben Seghir joined Monaco’s academy at 15, blossomed there with 85 games, 15 goals and 9 assists, before earning his big move to Leverkusen, confirming his status as one of world football’s brightest prospects.
Ben Seghir has featured twice for Morocco in the ongoing AFCON 2025 tournament.
