Olympique de Marseille advance, for this second part of the season, in the skin of a fifth in Ligue 1 eight points behind Olympique Lyonnais, leader. But the Phocéens intend to make up for their delay with two postponed matches (against Lens and against Nice). However, the first part of the season showed some shortcomings and it will be necessary to activate this winter to strengthen.
But where the shoe pinch is that OM do not have unlimited funds. ” I really like the word envelope. Looks like we’re putting everything together. I believe that the way of doing things in modern football is more global. You have to look for the salary, the price of the transfer, how are you going to pay for the transfer, what transfer formula … You have to invent operations, be creative. For the winter transfer window, you have to be imaginative », Declared the sports director, Pablo Longoria, in the columns of Provence recently.
Sales this winter?
Does this mean that we will have to sell? Probably. Players who have a rating in the market already seem to have a successor. They are Boubacar Kamara and Duje Caleta-Car. The sale of the two men could do a lot of good for the finances of OM and they could be replaced in the eleven of André Villas-Boas by two elements: Pape Gueye and Leonardo Balerdi.
But these aren’t the only players who could be pushed towards the exit. This is also the case for players at the end of their contract in six months. And there are quite a few. Florian Thauvin, the left winger, is the first of these. If discussions have been initiated between the player and the club to extend, we are still far from it.
Many end of contract to manage
The native of Orleans is tracked by AC Milan, Sevilla FC and Naples, who intend to recover him free. Kostas Mitroglou, the Greek striker who hasn’t played a single minute this season, is also out of contract. Will he be released this winter? Will a club come and deposit some money to get it back? Nothing is less sure. However, his rating still seems intact in his country.
Valère Germain is also at the end of his contract in 2021, as are Saîf-Eddine Khaoui, Jordan Amavi, Florian Chabrolle, Christopher Rocchia and goalkeeper Yohann Pelé. Little probability that OM will record significant gains on these men (if they were to leave six months after the end of their lease), but the saving of a salary like that of Germain is not negligible. Finally, in the departures department, Kevin Strootman is still pushed towards the exit. The Dutchman does not play much this year, but it is above all his staggering salary which is the problem (more than € 500,000 gross per month). A loan had been considered, it may always be the case.
The arrivals in all this
After all that, when we have done the accounts for the Commandery, we can think about the arrival of certain elements. Since the departure of Bouna Sarr to Bayern Munich, Olympique de Marseille is desperately looking for a right side to compete with Hiroki Sakai. This one will not be Joakim Maehle, the Dane of Genk, who is engaged with Atalanta.
An attacker is also expected. Since the arrival of Frank McCourt and the departure of Bafétimbi Gomis, OM are looking for something new and have often failed in this quest. This winter, a striker could arrive on loan to support a slightly broken Dario Benedetto this season. André Villas-Boas has already said it: there will be exchanges and loans this winter. Short term therefore. But if it is to try to go for the title, the supporters will probably not hold it against the Portuguese.
