Lamine Diaby-Fadiga has cited ‘jealousy’ as his reasons for taking Nice striker Kasper Dolberg’s watch last month.
Dolberg had a £62,000 watch stolen from his team’s dressing room on September 16 and took his complaint to the police.
It emerged that Diaby was in fact the thief with the 18-year-old subsequently sacked by the Ligue 1 club on Tuesday.
“After several days of an unprecedented media storm for me, I have decided to give myself a voice via communication,” Diaby tweeted.
“I would like to first of all apologise to the fans and those who love Le Gym. A lot of them supported me and showed me kindness since I made my professional debut, as a youngster from the local region who joined the club when I was 14. Their reactions embody the level of disappointment that they feel towards me and I owe them an explanation.”
“I proudly wore the club of my childhood’s shirt last season in Ligue 1. I was unfortunately injured for several months and my return to competitive action was further delayed following a red card I picked up whilst playing for the U-19s” he continued.
“That affected me mentally and my difficult situation contrasted starkly the success and aura of Kasper, my teammate. I took it out on him without having any reason to do so, maybe a bit because of jealousy. Instead of trying to battle on the pitch to provide him with competition for places, I reacted stupidly towards him.”
