Finances « concerning » : OM forced into major squad overhaul this summer

Olympique de Marseille must sell to survive financially. On Wednesday, sporting director Grégory Lorenzi acknowledged at a press conference that the club’s financial situation is « concerning » and that further departures are inevitable in this summer’s transfer window.

The club has just received €39 million excluding bonuses from the sale of Mason Greenwood to Fenerbahçe — of which 40% will go to Manchester United. This has not been enough to restore balance. « The club’s priority is to regain financial health. If we can’t achieve this stability, we won’t make it. We made promises to the DNCG and UEFA to secure this stability, » Lorenzi explained.

Marseille is therefore, in his own words, « forced to sell players ». The sporting director outlined the strategy: « This will necessarily involve sales or loans that will allow us afterwards to regain balance with players who will join us. We’re working on it but it takes time. »

Among the first affected, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. According to L’Équipe and Foot Mercato, the 37-year-old striker is on the verge of joining Deportivo La Corogne for approximately €1.5 million.

Despite this tight budgetary context, Lorenzi was keen to preserve the club’s sporting ambitions, now under the management of Bruno Genesio. « A club like OM attracts. It’s not because we have financial problems that there’s no ambition and project, » he stated, recalling that Marseille will have a role to play in the Ligue Europa next season.