Christophe Dugarry attacks OM's former strategy

Christophe Dugarry has accused Olympique de Marseille’s former leadership of misleading supporters about the club’s financial strength. The former Marseille player said the crisis was not simply the result of missing out on Champions League qualification, arguing that the strategy in place was too fragile to succeed over time.

Marseille have sold several players while attempting to reduce a heavy wage bill, but the cuts have not been enough to restore balance. The club made no additions during the summer transfer window. Pablo Longoria, previously sporting director before becoming president, has drawn particular criticism from Dugarry, who also holds owner Frank McCourt responsible for allowing an unstable policy to continue. Dugarry pointed to the repeated movement of players and expensive recruitment built around Champions League ambitions.

The upheaval has also changed the club’s leadership. Stéphane Richard replaced Longoria as president, Grégory Lorenzi succeeded Medhi Benatia as football director and Bruno Genesio took over from Roberto De Zerbi. Richard has described the inherited approach as a costly gamble based on recruiting highly paid players in the expectation of reaching Europe’s elite competition.

Benatia has rejected responsibility for the current finances, saying the large number of transfers each window predated his arrival. Dugarry’s assessment is that even Champions League qualification would not have solved Marseille’s underlying problems: it might have provided additional income, but sales would still have been necessary and major recruitment would not have been possible.