The McCourt renewal

In the 2015-2016 season, OM finished thirteenth in Ligue 1 and had just endured a trying year both internally and for the fans. On 13 April 2016, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus put the club up for sale. On 29 August 2016, the Marseille boss announced that she had entered into exclusive negotiations with American Frank McCourt to buy the club. Marseille now had hope of a better future.
 

17TH OCTOBER 2016

On 17 October 2016, the sale was completed and McCourt officially became the new owner of OM. Jacques-Henri Eyraud was appointed president of the blue-and-white club, Rudi Garcia was installed as first-team coach in place of Franck Passi and Andoni Zubizarreta was appointed sporting director. The project seems solid and the new directors are thinking big for the jewel that is OM.

When they arrived in the south of France, Marseille were twelfth in the league and the team was worrying the fans. But the start of the McCourt era brought a new lease of life to La Canebière. Garcia's charges (Gomis, Thauvin, Njie, Rolando, Lopez, Vainqueur, etc.) were in sixth place at the start of the winter break.

During the winter transfer window, the new management team struck a major blow. They succeeded in bringing back Dimitri Payet, who had taken on a new dimension since leaving the club at the end of the 2014-2015 season for around €29 million from West Ham. In doing so, he became the most expensive player in Marseille's history. In addition to Payet, Grégory Sertic, Morgan Sanson and Patrice Evra were also added to the Marseille squad. The project is off to a flying start!
 

MCCOURT'S OM SNAGS EUROPE

OM enjoyed a good second half of the season and finished fifth in the table at the end of the 2016-2017 financial year. Bafetimbi Gomis was the club's top scorer in Ligue 1 with 20 goals. As a result, McCourt's club managed to get a foothold in Europe and qualified for the Europa League.

In the summer of 2017, Olympique de Marseille strengthened its squad considerably. Amavi, Rami, Germain, Gustavo, Mandanda, Abdennour and Mitroglou were all recruited. Since his arrival at OM in October 2016, Frank McCourt has spent around €100 million on the transfer market. Colossal!
 

A VERY PROMISING 2017-2018 SEASON

The 2017-2018 season is the first full season of the McCourt era. Expectations were high. Florian Thauvin exploded during the year. He scored 26 goals in all competitions for the club. Rudi Garcia's team played a seductive attacking game. However, August and September did not bode well, with a humiliating 6-1 defeat by Monaco and a 1-3 home loss to Rennes. But OM bounced back after that. For a number of days, the Olympic club remained on the podium, hovering between second and third place. But in the end, Rudi Garcia's side finished fourth with 77 points. Never before has a fourth-placed Ligue 1 side had so many points at the end of the season. The aim was to do better than last season, and they have done just that.

AN EXCEPTIONAL RUN IN EUROPA LEAGUE

In addition to a good season in the league, Dimitri Payet and his team-mates impressed in the Europa League. In the final stages, they eliminated Braga, Athletic Bilbao, Leipzig and Salzburg in quick succession. The second leg of their quarter-final against Leipzig at the Orange Vélodrome, which ended in a 5-2 defeat, will live long in the memory of all Marseille fans. On 16 May 2018, OM played in their fifth European final in their history. The excitement was enormous. But the step was too high. Marseille lost to Atlético Madrid (0-3). 
 

A NEW CYCLE WITH VILLAS-BOAS

Overall, the first full season of the McCourt era at OM was a success. The 2018-2019 season was more complicated, with early eliminations from the Europa League, Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue as well as a fifth-place finish in Ligue 1 Conforama. On 28 May 2019, André Villas-Boas was appointed Olympique de Marseille's new coach. And in his first season in charge of OM, the Portuguese coach and his team finished second in a season truncated by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, OM returned to the Champions League. A new cycle in the project.
 

AFTER COVID-19

Following the departure of André Villas-Boas in February 2021, Nasser Larguet, director of the Olympic training centre, took over for a month before the arrival of Jorge Sampaoli. Under the Argentinian, OM returned to the Champions League by finishing second in the league in the dying seconds of the final day of Ligue 1. It was an unforgettable moment for the spectators at a packed Orange Vélodrome, where the 4-0 win over Strasbourg was a resounding success. Olympic fans were also thrilled by a European run that ended in the semi-finals of the Europa League Conference.

With Jorge Sampaoli, OM finishes second in 2021-2022

Despite these good results, Jorge Sampaoli did not stay on. In the summer of 2022, Igor Tudor was appointed coach. The Croatian only stayed for one season, and under his leadership OM finished third. In the Champions League, OM were eliminated at the last minute on matchday six of the group stage...

The croatian Igor Tudor, OM coach in 2022-2023.

In 2023-2024, OM endured a difficult season with four coaches (Marcelino, Jacques Abardonado, Gennaro Gattuso and Jean-Louis Gasset), elimination in the third Champions League preliminary round (OM were relegated to the Europa League) and an eighth-place finish in the league. However, the Olympiens had a fantastic run in the Europa League. They were knocked out at the final hurdle by eventual winners Atalanta Bergamo.

Jean-Louis Gasset, 100 days mission for Jean-Louis Gasset.

In the summer of 2024, Italian Roberto de Zerbi is appointed coach. A new era begins...