Sebastien Frey has assured Fiorentina fans that Franck Ribery is not planning to leave the club. ‘He wants to help bring them back up.’

Ribery was the victim of a burglary on Sunday night but seemed to allude to a departure from Fiorentina in his statement about the incident.

Viola ultras have also since condemned the veteran for his remarks, but Frey made it clear his fellow Frenchman was committed as ever.

“Franck loves Florence and has never thought about leaving,” the ex-goalkeeper, who played more than 200 times for Fiorentina, told Radio Toscana.

“I speak on his behalf because we spoke this morning. He’s been somewhat isolated for a few days, but he wants to clarify that he never said he wanted to leave.

“He only said that he’ll make decisions to protect his family. He’s obviously sorry about this situation, but he told me to reiterate he loves Florence, respects Fiorentina and their project, at no time has he thought about leaving, particularly at a difficult time like this, and that he wants to respect his contract to try to bring the team back up.

“I think this thing has been exaggerated ... I can assure you that he has great respect for the club and Commisso, as well as the city, because they’ve always behaved well towards him and shown him respect.

“I wouldn’t like Franck to go from a hero to a traitor. He isn’t thinking about leaving and he confirmed it to me this morning, asking me to pass this message on.

“There’s a lot of anger over what happened, but his wife has also reiterated his love for the city.

“He’ll probably become one of those players who leaves a piece of their heart in Florence like I did.

“Let’s end this controversy now. The objective now is staying up. The plan is to bring Fiorentina back up and for him to be part of that.”

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Article link: https://www.football-italia.net/155582/frey-ribery-not-leaving-fiorentina