McCourt seeks investors to shore up OM finances this winter

Frank McCourt does not want to sell Olympique de Marseille, but he is actively seeking investors to shore up the club’s finances this winter. This is the scenario described by journalist Jean-François Pérès, editor-in-chief of the sports section of Journal du Dimanche.

Last summer, constrained by financial difficulties, OM completed a transfer window without a single signing — a historic first for the club. The squad imbalance logically affected sporting performance. In December, the club will also have to account for itself to the National Management Control Authority (DNCG).

The club’s new sporting director, Grégory Lorenzi, is said to have already identified potential recruits. But to take that step, OM must first put its finances in order. “The club must get out of the red this winter to finally be able to invest again,” explains Jean-François Pérès. “I don’t see McCourt selling the club in the medium term, but rather welcoming investors.”

The American owner, according to the journalist, would view selling OM at this stage of his project as a personal failure. The preferred option would therefore be a partial opening of the capital to external partners, without a transfer of ownership.

Among the names cited, that of Rodolphe Saadé, head of CMA CGM, keeps coming up. The shipping giant is already OM’s shirt sponsor. Its media subsidiary, CMA Média, recently acquired the RMC group and is showing ambitions for sports rights. “McCourt could rely on CMA CGM, for example, which may go after TV rights,” suggests Pérès, evoking a model comparable to the one linking PSG and beIN Sports to Qatar.

Such an alliance would allow OM to have new resources without McCourt relinquishing control of the club — a configuration that, if it materializes, would significantly change the balance of power around the Marseille club.