Olympique Marseille coach Andre Villas-Boas admits he wanted to play Morgan Sanson on Saturday night.
The midfielder's move to Aston Villa is yet to be rubberstamped.
And after defeat to AS Monaco, AVB revealed: "We lost Sanson who didn't have the mind to play.
"The club decided to let him go. It's hard.
"I asked Morgan if he had his mind to play, because the offer was on the table. Sadly he said 'Mister, honestly, this is difficult for me'.
"I told him I would let him out of the game, he was no longer focused with Aston Villa's offer."
