Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez will make his comeback for Olympique Marseille [ Images ] on Saturday after France's [ Images ] football authorities gave the green light to his loan signing from Manchester United [ Images ].

"The contract has been validated today by the French league. The French Federation has received all the official documents from the English Federation," Olympique Marseille said in a statement on Friday.

"Fabien will be able to make his comeback on Saturday at the Stade Velodrome for our French Cup first round match against Strasbourg."

A 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner, Barthez won the 1993 European Cup with Marseille in the first of his three seasons at the club.

He left for a five-year spell at Monaco before moving to Old Trafford in 2000 for a world record fee for a goalkeeper of 7.8 million pounds.

The 32-year-old has won two league titles with United but was dropped by manager Alex Ferguson [ Images ] at the tail-end of last season.

Ligue 1 club Marseille and United reached agreement on a nine-month loan transfer in October but FIFA [ Images ] blocked the move because it had not been registered during the transfer window.

An appeal by the French club was turned down and Barthez, desperate to play first-team soccer to remain as France's first-choice keeper for the Euro 2004, had to resign himself to wait until January's winter transfer window.