Aston Villa's Jordan Veretout is to join Marseille on a season-long loan, according to French newspaperL'Equipe.
The report claims that the midfielder held talks with the club's President, Vincent Labrune, on Tuesday evening, who tried to convince Veretout to temporarily join the French side.
Veretout is now expected to continue his playing career at the Stade Velodrome next season after agreeing to move back to his homeland.
Marseille initially approached Villa over Veretout's availability on Monday after he had made it clear that he wished to leave following Villa's relegation from the Premier League.
And, after being persuaded that joining the Ligue 1 club was the best move for his career at this time, Veretout is believed to be ready to commit his future to Marseille for the time being.
The 23-year-old originally joined the Villa Park-based outfit from Nantes in the summer of 2015 for around £8m.
Then-manager Tim Sherwood had earmarked the combative centre midfielder as a key component of his starting eleven heading into the 2015/16 campaign.
Veretout, however, struggled to acclimatise to life in England, and featured just 29 times in all competitions.
The France international enjoyed his best run of games under compatriot Remi Garde, who replaced the sacked Sherwood in October 2015, throughout the middle section of the season.
Veretout's first-team opportunities were limited under caretaker manager Eric Black's time in charge towards the season's end.
And, with Villa's relegation seemingly inevitable, Veretout played no part in any of their final seven league fixtures.
Villa finished 20th in the league standings after a horrendous 2015/16 campaign as they picked up a paltry 17 points from 38 league matches.
As a result, the Villans will not feature in England's top flight for the first time in 30 years.