Last summer, OM recruited several African players during the transfer window, significantly thickening its contingent of players from the continent. At the end of a disappointing 2023/2024 season, the story has stopped abruptly for some of them, for others the future is unclear.
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At OM, after a failed season with three coaches, which ended in 8th place in Ligue 1 with Jean-Louis Gasset at the helm for the last rescue mission of his career, nothing went as planned. The season was much darker than hoped and the future of several elements of the locker room became cloudy, even obscured, to the point of a departure. This is the case for several African players in Marseille whose contingent made up a large part of the locker room.
The Vélodrome stands are known for being cosmopolitan and this season, they supported a team that had a squad where Africa had a prominent place. Even before the 2023 summer transfer window, many players from the continent who were already in the squad had chosen to continue the adventure under the white and blue jersey for the 2023/2024 season: Simon Ngapandouetnbu, Chancel Mbemba, Pape Gueye, Azzedine Ounahi, Amine Harit and François Mughe. And that’s without counting the names that the Marseille leaders have parted ways with (Cédric Bakambu, Bamba Dieng…).
So when Pablo Longoria and his teams set about strengthening the squad with a resolutely African recruitment, the club remembered the good memories of its great figures of the continent who made its glory days. The Canebière saw the arrival of Iliman Ndiaye from Sheffield, Ismaïla Sarr from Watford, Geoffrey Kondogbia from Atlético Madrid and especially Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Ambition, big checks put on the table and some technical and provocative profiles on the field, capable of attracting the love of the Marseille people. Except that at the beginning of July, the first on this list had already returned across the Channel, to Everton, for 20 million euros, only one short season after arriving. A lesser evil for a player who brought too little.
Sarr market value, Aubameyang sentimental value
Pape Gueye has also left us. The Senegalese midfielder, after a stint on loan at Sevilla, honored the end of his contract at Marseille before returning to Spain to play for Villarreal. In a farewell message, he spoke of his good memories, but also of the ” difficult moments ” in a club where nothing is a long, quiet river.
As for the will to stay, that of “PAB” will be tested. The Gabonese is being courted by the Saudi club Al-Shabab according to information from The Team. If OM’s best player last season has expressed the wish to stay in a club that loves him and that he has learned to love, after having been adopted by the stands, what will happen to the question of the wallet?
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Without qualifying for a European Cup, Marseille’s budget is truncated and Aubameyang’s emoluments are a burden to bear. With this in mind, Crystal Palace’s interest in Sarr revealed in recent days could also be an option to replenish the coffers. Especially since the Eagles need a profile such as that of the Senegalese to compensate for the departure of Michael Olise to Bayern Munich. Questions therefore, the answers to which will gradually fall over the transfer window which will end in France on August 30.