Mehdi Benatia, 36, fills the void left by Javier Ribalta’s departure after the tumultuous meeting between leaders and representatives of the amateur teams in September. However, he will not have the same prestige as the Spaniard, who is a member of the board of directors. Benatia will report to Stéphane Tessier, the club’s current general manager.
“Mehdi Benatia will put his experience and wisdom in modern football at OM’s disposal, as a service provider,” OM said in its statement. “In close collaboration with Pablo Longoria, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Stéphane Tessier, CEO, he will contribute to the progression and implementation of the club’s sporting strategy, in particular to attract, exercise and retain the most productive talents,” the club added. According to OM sources, Benatia arrives “in a role and with a prestige comparable to that of Luis Campos at Paris SG”.
Benatia is a selection of Marseille president Pablo Longoria, who worked with him at Juventus, when one was still a player there and the other coach. Then they crossed paths after the end of Benatia’s playing career, who became an agent, an activity that he put on hold to be able to register with OM.
Trained at OM, where he was one of the pillars of the youth teams, Benatia never wore the shirt of the Marseille club in the first team. Nevertheless, he began his career at the Tours before signing for Lorient and Clermont and exploding in Italy and Germany. He played for Udinese, AS Roma, Bayern Munich (2014-2016) and Juventus (2016-2019). He is a three-time Italian champion and two-time German champion and played in a Champions League final with Juve in 2017. He also has 65 caps for Morocco, of which he was captain.
Dans son communiqué, l’OM annonce par ailleurs que Jean-Pierre Papin a été nommé entraîneur de l’équipe réserve du club, qui est actuellement dernière de son groupe en N3 (5e division). Revenu au club il y a un an exactement, « JPP » y occupait un rôle d’ambassadeur et de conseiller de Pablo Longoria.
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