Little known to the general public and OM supporters, Ali Zarrak suddenly came into the spotlight due to the clash with Jean-Pierre Papin. But the young 33-year-old leader still benefits from the support of Mehdi Benatia.
The rag has burned at the Olympique de Marseille in recent days between Jean-Pierre Papin, coach of the reserve of the Marseille club which plays in National 3 and Ali Zarrak, former head of the Pro 2. Tensions have been attributed to “ JPP” with Roberto De Zerbi, Mehdi Benatia or Pablo Longoria, but it was only with Ali Zarrak that the former OM Ballon d’Or had problems. The case was resolved internally and the young 33-year-old manager will no longer intervene in the management of the reserve in order to avoid any confusion in the near future. But who is this famous Ali Zarrak, who no one really knows among Olympian supporters?
In today's edition, L'Equipe attempts to shed light on this young manager with a master's degree in business law, a master's degree in sports law, and an agent's license. Former player agent, he took a turn in 2017 by agreeing to join Andrézieux-Bouthéon (N2) then moving to the next level by successively joining Le Havre, Auxerre then Lorient as a recruiter. “In his register, he is a competent recruiter. He likes handrail football. You don't have that much anymore in the data age. A guy on the ground, who has a vision of a player's potential and his progress. If he smells it, he'll get wet.” explains Patrick Mendy, agent of Bafétimbi Gomis and Bouna Sarr, who dealt with Ali Zarrak in 2017.
Benatia adoube Zarrak
The young man's competence should therefore not be called into question, but does he still have a future in Marseille after this tumultuous episode with Jean-Pierre Papin? There is no doubt about this, especially since he still benefits from the support of Mehdi Benatia. “He’s a monk-soldier, at work from early morning until late at night” simply commented the sports advisor of Pablo Longoria, who remains a great defender of Zarrak internally even if he is not directly at the origin of his arrival, desired at the time by the former general manager Stéphane Tessier . The clash with Jean-Pierre Papin is therefore under control and everyone will be able to get back to working peacefully in Marseille, without anyone leaving the ship along the way, not even Ali Zarrak.
