Four goals on the pitch, a blunt message off it
Four-nil against Strasbourg at the CEPAC Velodrome. On paper, the perfect way for Olympique de Marseille to open their Ligue 1 season. The week that led up to it was nothing like that.
A few hours before kickoff, the heads of the supporters groups sat down with Frank McCourt and club president Stephane Richard. They had already met coach Bruno Genesio and sporting director Gregory Lorenzi earlier in the week.
According to RMC Sport, the American owner and the Marseille president told them a few more players still have to go. No figures. No names. The message did not need either.
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Two years, maybe three, before the books balance
The explanation mattered more than the warning. Club officials made clear this is not simply about keeping the DNCG happy. Their own timeline for a return to financial balance runs to two years, possibly three.
That schedule comes straight from the settlement signed with UEFA. OM came within touching distance of a ban from European competition. The deal that followed obliges the club to bring income and spending back into line on a calendar the governing body controls.
Here is the part most fans miss. Even if McCourt wrote another cheque himself, UEFA would not care. Financial fair play measures the ratio of spending to income, not an owner’s willingness to cover a shortfall. Cash does not repair a structural problem.
Genesio said the same thing first
None of this came out of nowhere. Genesio had already told reporters on the eve of the match that more departures were coming. The two versions match, which leaves very little room for hoping otherwise.
Marseille supporters have been living this loop for a while. A season spent selling to stay inside the rules, almost nothing bought, and now word that the same routine runs for another two or three campaigns.
The window shuts in a matter of days. That is where the first instalment of the promise gets tested.
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