Calm summers, Marseille do not seem to know them.
If in recent years the summer mercatos have been a source of frustrations for Marseille fans, this summer, a wind of enthusiasm is blowing over the Marseille city.
Between cascading announcements and incessant rumors, the transfer window piloted by President Pablo Longoria seems promising.
With already four formalized arrivals and at least four others which should not be long in being, OM has not been idle.
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For many months now, the Marseille club has been expecting a hectic summer. André Villas-Boas himself announced last January, while he was still in office, a "
zero year
" accompanied by a "
total cleaning
" for the summer transfer window of 2021. The sequence of events proved him right . At the end of the season, Olympique de Marseille experienced a spectacular downsizing with ten starts, including those of Florian Thauvin and Valère Germain, free parties. The first having also committed with the Mexican club of Tigers before the end of the championship.
More recently it is the departure on loan of Kevin Strootman that has been formalized.
The 31-year-old Dutchman has flown to Cagliari with a call option that will be exercised automatically if the Italian club manage to stay in the top flight.
So many departures that did not bring a lot of money into the coffers (only 3.5 million thanks to transfers from Maxime Lopez and Hiroki Sakai), but which freed up a high payroll for the Olympian club.
With Germain and Thauvin alone, OM was able to save more than 700,000 euros on monthly salaries.
Attractive bets
Although PSG also left to achieve a large transfer window in the direction of arrivals, OM is also illustrated by the quality of the names formalized and those expected. Olympian management first formalized the arrival of Konrad De La Fuente, promising Masia player in the future blocked by the successive arrivals of high-sounding names in Barcelona. OM did not hesitate to pay 4 million euros for this twirling winger who still has everything to prove at the high level, since he could only play 39 minutes in 3 games with the Catalan giant. It remains to be seen how the 19-year-old American will acclimatize to this change of environment and how he will manage to manage the high hopes placed in him.
If there is another player who will have a lot of pressure when it comes to treading the lawn of the Velodrome, it is Gerson. The 24-year-old Brazilian was at the heart of the soap opera at the start of the transfer window on the Canebière. At the end of negotiations which seemed to last forever for Marseille supporters, the former Flamengo player ended up signing his contract on July 1. Presented as one of the best midfielders in Brazil, where he has won everything, his debut is eagerly awaited. All the more in view of the sum invested by OM to bring him here. The transfer fee for the Brazilian is estimated between 20 and 25 million euros.
This weekend, OM again announced two new recruits. The first being the final signing of Leonardo Balerdi, expected after his rather successful loan. Sometimes inconstant, despite the confidence granted by Jorge Sampaoli, the 22-year-old Argentine will have to confirm the hopes placed in him and assert himself in the Olympian hinge. Finally, OM formalized the arrival on loan of 23-year-old Turkish winger Cengiz Ünder. After three dry transfers, OM this time bet on a paying loan with a purchase option up to 8 million euros. An idea that all of a sudden when we know that the Roma player is estimated at 18 million euros. However, the left-hander arrives mainly with the idea of relaunching himself since he comes out of a poorly successful season with Leicester (19 games - 3 goals).
Pablo Longoria on all fronts
If the transfer window of OM seems to be a success on paper, it is thanks to Pablo Longoria. The 35-year-old Spaniard, named president by Frank McCourt less than 6 months ago, wasted no time in shaping his Olympic. The former recruiter of Juventus, Sassuolo, Atalanta or Valencia, activated his networks throughout Europe and even in South America to build a competitive team. Photographed all over Europe, still with the phone taped to his ear, the president of OM is piloting the club's transfer window and seems to be increasing. While Marseille has formalized 4 players in a week, Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal) has already arrived in town and is about to sign on loan. Agreements are also said to be on the verge of being concluded with Saliba (Arsenal),Pau Lopez (AS Roma) and Luan Peres (Santos). The president of the latter has also confirmed the imminent departure of his 26-year-old player. An insane activity on the part of the president of OM who even pushed some supporters of the Marseille club to open a pot in order to offer him a Thalasso.
Sales expected in the coming weeks
If the transfer window of Pablo Longoria is attractive in terms of arrivals, it is clear that in terms of sales it is rather calm. While the workforce has already grown significantly due to the many end of contracts, sales are still expected. Three players are strongly expected to leave the club by the end of the transfer window. First of all Boubacar Kamara, promising, but whose suitors are not jostling because of the large sums requested by OM just 1 year from the end of his contract. Duje Caleta-Car, whose aborted transfer to Liverpool last winter greatly affected his performance. Finally, the management of the Benedetto case. The 31-year-old Argentine is regularly announced for Elche's side in La Liga. A departure which will be used to finance the arrival of Giovanni Simeone,son of Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid) and striker of Cagliari. With still hot issues to manage such as the arrival of Pol Lirola (Fiorentina), OM has not finished being active on the transfer market.