Olympique Marseille favourite Fabien Laurenti says Gerson has the ability to "play for Manchester City or Real Madrid",

However, Laurenti argues there's reasons why he plays for OM.

He told Le Phoceen: "Gerson isn't taking enough risks. He plays too sideways. At no time does he try to break the lines, to advance the game. Either he plays sideways, or he goes back… It may be a physical problem for him, he may not have built himself up since preseason. But the form he has is not good, he has no explosiveness. I don't worry too much though.

"I think we have to give him time. This is the speech heard since the start of the season. But I want to believe it. He's a good player, he's technically interesting. After that, to say that he is the best Brazilian player of his generation… No! Without disrespecting OM, if that was the case, he would not be with us, he would be at Real Madrid or Manchester City."