No Contract but Still Influential, Benatia Remains Key Asset for OM's Summer Sales

Medhi Benatia is no longer sporting director of Olympique de Marseille, but he has not yet closed the door. While the Phocaean club must urgently shore up its finances this summer under pressure from UEFA and the DNCG, new president Stéphane Richard confirmed that the former executive remained involved in certain transfer matters.

“He is here, in Marseille, there are contacts. From the moment things are clear, that it’s no longer him making decisions, I gladly take everything he can bring us,” Richard said, praising Benatia’s cooperative spirit. According to a source inside the club cited by La Provence, the former sporting director “is involved in a logic of power transition with Grégory Lorenzi on certain sale matters, out of a sense of responsibility and love for his club”.

It was precisely in the exercise of sales that Benatia had demonstrated his value. Under his management, the departures of Luis Henrique, Robinio Vaz and Darryl Bakola — all leaving for Italy — brought in a total approaching 65 million euros. A track record that American owner Frank McCourt has not forgotten.

This summer, OM has little choice. Mason Greenwood is expected to be sold, while exit doors are actively being sought for Leonardo Balerdi and Pierre-Emile Höjberg. New president Richard nonetheless displayed from the outset of his tenure a desire to break with the policy of spectacular transfers and permanent turnover that characterized the Pablo Longoria era, promising more measured management.

Benatia himself is said to have advocated for the appointment of Grégory Lorenzi, former recruitment chief at Brest, to succeed him in his post. A transition that, for now, has not yet fully concluded.