Bruno Genesio signs with Marseille for two years with an option, his staff already known

Bruno Genesio will be the next head coach of Olympique de Marseille. According to La Provence, the 58-year-old manager has reached a contract agreement with the Marseille board covering two seasons, with a third as an option.

The official announcement should however wait for Stéphane Richard’s inauguration as club president, as well as the formalization of Habib Beye’s departure, whose fate is already sealed. Two other deadlines weigh on the calendar: the verdicts from the National Financial Control Board (DNCG) and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (ICFC). These uncertainties reportedly did not deter Genesio, with Marseille’s qualification or non-qualification for the Europa League not being set as a condition for his signing.

Genesio arrives with two solid seasons at Lille, where he led LOSC to European qualification. Before that, he had managed Olympique Lyonnais and Stade Rennais, accumulating significant experience in French top-flight football. Several clubs reportedly offered him competing projects, but it was the Marseille challenge he chose to take on.

His staff will be largely composed of loyal associates. Jérémie Bréchet and Dimitri Farbos, his assistants at LOSC, will make the journey to the Canebière. Nicolas Dehon, the highly regarded goalkeeping coach at Lille — whom the northern club wanted to retain — has also decided to follow his head coach.

Dehon is not unknown to Marseille. After five years at Paris Saint-Germain, he worked at Marseille between 2010 and 2012 under Didier Deschamps, a period during which he formed a strong friendship with international goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.