Marseille new boy Lucho Gonzalez feels he has taken a step forward in his career following his move from Porto.

The 28-year-old Argentina midfielder was presented today along with Marseille's three other summer signings, Edouard Cisse, Charley Fomen and Souleymane Diawara.

And Gonzalez cannot wait to take to the pitch at the Stade Velodrome.

"It was OM's interest and what (coach) Didier Deschamps told me that pushed me to sign here," he said. "I think I'm going to go through a new level in my career as Marseille are a huge club.

"And I am going to do everything so we can achieve our aims.

"Marseille have an extraordinary support, very similar to what you see in Argentina. That encouraged me even more to join Marseille."

Cisse revealed that Deschamps, who he spent a season with at Monaco, reaching the Champions League final was also one of the main reasons he opted for a return to France.

"To come back to France wasn't my priority because I wanted to experience other countries such as Italy or Spain," said the former Paris St Germain, West Ham and Besiktas midfielder.

"But when Didier Deschamps contacted me to offer me the challenge of playing at OM, I leapt on the opportunity. It's a huge chance for me.

"I'm back with the same Didier I knew before, still as demanding but also still as close to his players.

"I hope it will work as well as it did at Monaco."

Diawara has vowed to give his all for his new team, who were runners up last campaign to Bordeaux - the club the defender left last week.

"It's always a pleasure to be the coach's and the sporting director's priority," he said.

"I've come to bring all my experience and my fighting spirit."

Meanwhile, OM sporting director Jose Anigo is hoping to bring in a fifth recruit, Rennes midfielder Stephane Mbia, as soon as possible.

The two Ligue 1 clubs have been locked in talks over the Cameroon international with Mbia revealing last week that their valuations differ by two million euros (£1.7million).

Anigo is confident everything will be finalised sooner rather than later.

"It's still in the pipeline," he said.

"There are still some details to sort out, the player is still in Cameroon and should come back tomorrow.

"It should be sorted as we're expecting to move quickly."

Mbia was also targeted by Everton, who are believed to have put in a bid closer to the 12million euros (£10.4million) Rennes are holding out for, but the 23-year-old has opted for the chance of playing Champions League football.