Arrived in Marseille just a month ago, Jorge Sampaoli, the Argentine coach, has already drawn up a list of players to keep for next season.
If he intends to impose his philosophy of play as quickly as possible within the formation of League 1, the former coach of the Chile team would also have started another major project. That of putting in place a workforce that suits him in anticipation of next season. Working directly with Pablo Longoria, the new president of the Olympique de Marseille, the Argentinian technician seems to already have a clear idea of the players he has on hand.
According to the information from the regional daily Provence, Jorge Sampaoli hopes to keep in its ranks four Phocaeans likely to leave at the end of the current sports exercise. At the end of the contract, Florian Thauvin, the French world champion who is particularly in the sights of the AC Milan, of AS Roma and Napoli, would clearly be part of Bielsa’s disciple’s plans for next season.
There would be the same thinking behind the scenes for Arkadiusz Milik. If the Pole has been on loan from Napoli until the summer of 2022 with an option to buy, he could decide to join one of his many European suitors in the coming months. The Juventus, Inter Milan, Atlético or the Sevilla FC would all be in line. The room for maneuver is therefore more limited in this matter. It remains to be seen whether Pablo Longoria will manage to find a way to convince the 27-year-old striker to stay one more year on the Canebière.
Sampaoli wants OM to exercise two purchase options
Finally, Jorge Sampaoli wants to keep two defensive elements loaned to Marseille until next June. They are Leonardo Balerdi (22) and Pol Lirola (23). Arrived from Borussia Dortmund on loan with option to buy, estimated at 15 million euros, the first would have already convinced his compatriot. For his part, the Spanish right-back of Fiorentina recently confided that he would see himself staying in Ligue 1. One thing is certain, Marseille will undoubtedly try to negotiate with the clubs to lower the purchase options in this period of economic crisis.
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