The winter transfer window officially opened its doors this Wednesday January 1 and it once again promises to be very hectic for Olympique de Marseille. OM must indeed strengthen itself in the defensive sector. FCMarseille offers you its good transfer window plans with a Colombian at the central defender position.
Please note, this is “Bon Plan Mercato” proposed by the editorial staff of Football Club de Marseille. To date, this is not a current option for OM for the next transfer window.
Summer recruitment, particularly on the defensive side, has been far from satisfactory since the start of August. One of the biggest disappointments of this first part of the season is none other than the central defender, Lilian Brassier, recruited from Brest this summer. The former Brest player was even completely excluded from Roberto De Zerbi's starting line-ups for more than a month and a half and a match against Auxerre where he was guilty of a gross blunder on Auxerre's first goal.
Carlos Cuestacentral defender of Genk in the Jupiler Pro League, could be an interesting avenue to strengthen the Marseille defense during the winter transfer window. This option is in any case potentially feasible for OM. Here is the journalist's portrait of the player Pierre Gerbeaud (@PierreGerbeaud)
Focus on Carlos Cuesta
| Current club | KRC Genk |
| Later | Central Defender |
| Size | 1m79 |
| Age | 25 ans |
| Value estimated by Transfermarkt | 5 M€ |
Who is he?
A mature and experienced profile valued at 5 million euros?
Our colleague Pierre Gerbeaud (@PierreGerbeaud) checked off this good plan in central defense. He describes a versatile player, capable of playing on the right axis or in the right lane and who could also perfectly compete or even replace Amir Murillo or Lilian Brassier:
« He is a player who already has 21 caps with Colombia, who has been in Europe since 2019. He comes out of Atlético Nacional and on the mental aspect we can say that he is already experienced because when you come out of 'Aletico Nacional in Colombia and when you know the pressure and the atmosphere there, you know that it is still a guarantee of quality and that it is not the Vélodrome which will scare him. He is a central defender who is not giant (1m79) but who is very precise, he is quite quick in the short game, he has good placement and anticipation skills. It’s really a very safe bet. He was injured at the start of the season, he had lost his place with Genk a little but he has just regained it since mid-November. He's really a defender that I would take, who can play in a 4 or 3 defense but on the other hand more of a right axis, I have no memory of having seen him play a left axis. He's really a defender who could take Murillo's place, who could play in the right lane if OM ever goes back to 4 or even a little higher in the middle but given the crowd in the middle at OM I think he will not be required to help out in this position. For me, he's a player that I would take, that I would try, he is stagnating a little at Genk, at the end of his cycle there and I think that if OM goes to look for him this winter, he can really go through a level and really become a real captain at the high level. He has experience in the European Cup, he has already played in the Champions League and a few Europa League matches with Genk. He must have around ten European matches under his belt. He showed that he could be totally up to the task. So here is Carlos Cuesta, in terms of speed, technique, anticipation, placement, it's clean, I would take him to OM, he is adaptable to the De Zerbi style. I would try this bet, it would cost around 8-10M given that he does not have a European passport he would come to take the 4th place of extra community in the workforce but it would be an added value and a significant contribution to what De Zerbi wants to do.«
also read: OM: “I hope that OM will not abandon this idea too quickly…”
