Medhi Benatia, until now sports advisor to OM president Pablo Longoria, was promoted this Wednesday, January 8, to the position of director of football, the Marseille club announced in a press release.
In this position, “the former captain of the Moroccan selection now directs the entire sporting policy of the club, from the training center to the first team,” OM said in its press release.
“Olympique de Marseille is delighted to be able to count on the vision, experience and professionalism of its new football director,” added the Provençal club.
Trained at OM without ever having worn the jersey
Trained at OM, Medhi Benatia never wore the jersey but had a great playing career with stints at AS Roma, Juventus Turin or Bayern Munich and more than 60 caps with Morocco.
At the end of his football career, in 2021, he briefly became a players’ agent, before returning to OM in November 2023 with a role as sports advisor to Longoria and a service provider status modeled on that of Luis Campos at Paris SG.
-He is a personal choice of the president of OM, who had worked with him at Juventus when one was still a player there and the other a young manager.
During the last summer transfer window, his role was decisive in the arrivals of coach Roberto De Zerbi and players of the caliber of Adrien Rabiot or Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
This Wednesday, OM’s new recruit, Italian-Brazilian defender Luiz Felipe, also said that it was Benatia who contacted him and convinced him of the seriousness of the project underway in Marseille.
