Two players long gone. One cheque anyway.
Iliman Ndiaye hasn’t played for Marseille since 2024. Jonathan Rowe left last summer. And yet OM are about to bank close to 8 million euros thanks to both of them, with the late-window deals doing the heavy lifting. L’Equipe laid out the mechanism on Wednesday night.
It isn’t luck. It’s paperwork, negotiated well.
The bulk of the money comes from Ndiaye. The Senegal forward has just left Everton for Manchester City in a deal worth close to 75 million euros. Marseille sold him to the Toffees in 2024 for 19 million, plus 2 in add-ons. When that deal was signed, the club kept 10% of any profit made on a future sale.
Do the maths. That clause should bring OM around 5 million euros. Add in roughly 0.5% of the transfer fee through FIFA’s solidarity mechanism.
Try it for $0.99.
The Rowe money is real, it just isn’t in the bank yet
Jonathan Rowe, meanwhile, is heading from Bologna to Atalanta. A 5 million euro loan, with an obligatory 30 million euro buy option.
Marseille sold the English winger to Bologna for 17.5 million a year ago, again with 10% on the profit and a 1 million euro bonus if he was later sold for more than 20 million. The total comes to around 2.65 million euros.
That money will not land right away, though. The buy option is mandatory but has not been triggered, so OM have to wait for Atalanta to set it off before the cash hits the account.
Dry legal detail, two years and eight million later
Resale clauses never make the headlines on signing day. One line among many, buried in a contract nobody reads twice.
Two years on, they can bring in the equivalent of a mid-table Ligue 1 transfer.
OM have already had a hectic window, capped by Quinten Timber’s move to Crystal Palace in the final minutes. The timing of this one suits them.
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