Marseille's Abdelaziz Barrada says he hopes that Aston Villa target Steve Mandanda will stay at the club after the goalkeeper's penalty shootout heroics helped them into the last 32 of the Coupe de France.
Mandanda, 30, kept 10-man Marseille in the game at Caen on Sunday before saving three of the home team's four penalties after the tie finished 0-0 following extra-time.
The France international is out of contract in the summer, and late last month he declined to play down the possibility of a January switch to Villa.
Mandanda is not short of options should he wish to cut short his eight-year stay at the 2010 Ligue 1 champions.
Although Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted he is not in the market for a new goalkeeper, Le Phoceen reported last week that the Reds had enquired about Mandanda.
The No. 2 keeper in the France squad has also been linked with Turkish club Besiktas, but Barrada hopes he will stay at Marseille.
"In the end, our aim was to go to penalties because we knew we had a quality goalkeeper," the midfielder told L'Equipe after Marseille's win at Caen.
"We thank him for getting us through to the next round. We were united, concentrated, and then Steve got us out of a tricky situation.
"We're proud of him. I hope that he will stay until the end of the season. He's someone who is good for us. We know his qualities.
"It will be up to him to take his decision. I hope he'll stay."
