Marseille boss Andre Villas-Boas slammed Aston Villa's offer for Morgan Sanson as 'pathetic' and confirmed the French club had rejected their 'weak' bid.
Sanson's impressive form for the Ligue 1 side has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs including Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham.
Villa are the first club to make an official approach but their opening offer was met with derision.
'We had a very, very weak offer from Aston Villa which we turned down. It was pathetic,' Villas-Boas told French TV channel Telefoot Chaine after Marseille's 1-0 defeat by Lens on Wednesday.