For several years, the Italian coach was on the short list of Marseille leaders. After trying Fonseca then Conçeicao, it is De Zerbi who will be the Olympian bench for the next three seasons.

Good things come to those who wait for. The wedding had already almost taken place in 2022. After Jorge Sampaoli, the name of Roberto De Zerbi came back insistently on La Cannebière. After three successful seasons with Sassuolo, the Italian flew to Ukraine to manage Shakhtar Donestk in 2021. An experience which only lasted one season. Eager to return to Western Europe in the summer of 2022, De Zerbi was then one of the potential names capable of sitting on the OM bench. Pablo Longoria then launched a seduction operation, which had already started before because the Marseille leader is a fan of the Transalpine, but which was not enough at the time.

Read alsoLigue 1: OM and De Zerbi have reached an agreement in principle

Tudor preferred to De Zerbi

In July 2022, Marseille then opted for the Igor Tudor option rather than the Roberto De Zerbi ticket. A choice which did not necessarily pay off on arrival despite a podium in Ligue 1 and qualification for the preliminary round of the Champions League. The Croatian quickly took off in the summer of 2023 to make way for Marcelino then Gennaro Gattuso and finally Jean-Louis Gasset.

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A glaring lack of stability that Pablo Longoria had identified at the end of the season with a clear message: the new coach will have to be there for the long term. Bogged down by an excessively large payroll and lacking cash, OM then decided to bet big on their new coach with an XXL salary and high bonuses. It was then that Longoria took on the Paulo Fonseca file, already being courted in the summer of 2023, but who preferred the AC Milan project. Sergio Conçeicao, free after his departure from Porto, then became the number one option but the Portuguese dragged things out and De Zerbi arrived.

Promise of good play with the Italian

Free after his announced departure from Brighton, where he qualified the club for the European Cup for the first time [en Ligue Europa, NDLR], after two seasons in England, the Transalpine team waited for some time for an offer from a club competing in a European competition. The offers did not come and OM began pressing. Longoria and Benatia worked day and night to satisfy the coach’s requests, particularly regarding the staff and the transfer window. And on Monday, OM announced an agreement in principle with De Zerbi. The Italian should sign up for three years until 2027. The start of a new cycle? Certainly.

The Italian is a fan of the beautiful game with constant risk-taking on restarts in particular. He hates it when his players get rid of the ball. A year earlier, De Zerbi declared: “It’s stupidity to say that possession of the ball is useless. If I have 70% possession, do I have a better chance of winning than the team with 30%? Yes. » This is what awaits Vélodrome supporters. Possession, 4-2-3-1 system adjustable to 4-3-3 with variable positions and above all, game intelligence. De Zerbi likes to get his messages across and pay attention to those who don’t get on the train.

Concerning the transfer window, OM still risks being active in order to offer its new coach players who better suit him. The name of Maxime Lopez could come back with insistence. De Zerbi brought him to Sassuolo then Minot left for Fiorentina but he has just returned to Sassuolo, relegated to Italian D2. Lopez should therefore leave and a return home to Marseille and with a coach who suits him cannot be ruled out.

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