Transfer window blocked at OM: Genesio fears losing Paixão without replacement

Olympique de Marseille is approaching the end of the summer transfer window in a financial deadlock: without prior sales, no reinforcements can be finalized, and Igor Paixão’s departure to Sunderland is becoming increasingly likely, leaving Bruno Genesio without any guarantee of a replacement.

The club’s management, under owner Frank McCourt, has laid down a clear rule: the wage bill must be reduced before any spending can be committed. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Quinten Timber and captain Leonardo Balerdi are among the players who could be sold to balance the books. Until these deals are completed, incoming transfers remain at a standstill.

Yet the needs identified by the coaching staff are numerous: a backup goalkeeper, a centre-back, a right-back, a box-to-box midfielder and a dynamic winger. OM has made progress on two profiles — defender Jean-Clair Todibo and winger Yann Gboho — but negotiations with their respective clubs have not yet been able to get seriously underway. Goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, meanwhile, is reportedly on the verge of joining Frankfurt.

It is the Paixão situation that is crystallizing internal tensions. After an impressive pre-season, the Portuguese winger has attracted Sunderland’s interest, and the club’s management sees a transfer as an opportunity to cash in a significant cheque. Genesio and his assistant Grégory Lorenzi are firmly opposed, believing that such a departure would undermine the season’s ambitions.

OM’s attack has already suffered significant losses this summer: Mason Greenwood joined Fenerbahçe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left for La Corogne, and Hamed Junior Traorè was loaned to Genoa. Depriving an already thin attacking department of further depth without compensatory recruitment would, according to the technical staff, pose a major risk for the rest of the season.