Football Season Guide

Marseille missed out on automatic Champions League football last season as they finished third behind PSG and Lens, but under Igor Tudor they were not out of the title race until late in the campaign, when their form faltered. Four defeats in their last five was a sour way to end a promising season, in which inconsistent home form was their biggest enemy. This was typified as they were knocked out of the Coupe de France by Annecy at the Velodrome in a huge upset. Tudor has since departed and Marcelino has arrived at the club. The Spaniard has benefitted from an ambitious transfer campaign that has seen the club’s attacking sector, in particular, reinforced. Loan deals made permanent for Ruslan Malinovskiy and Amine Harit are only the tip of OM’s business, with Ismaila Sarr and the highly rated Iliman Ndiaye both signing up in attack. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the headline arrival, though, with OM hoping he can recapture his best form. Nevertheless, losing the wily Alexis Sanchez is a blow, while the emblematic Dimitri Payet also bid a tearful goodbye from the club. The midfield, meanwhile, will be boosted by the return to fitness of Azzedine Ounahi while Geoffrey Kondogbia has joined up to add to a unit that already boasts Valentine Rongier, Matteo Guendouzi and Jordan Veretout. At the back, OM currently boast a small panel, and this could be their weakness. Loans for Eric Bailly, Issa Kabore and Nuno Tavares have all ended, while Saed Kolasinac has departed for Atalanta. In return, only Renan Lodi has joined the club, leaving them short of options across the defence. It could become a problem in the wrong circumstances, which given the number of games OM will play, is something that should not be lightly discounted.