We’ve seen it coming for a while now. Appointed a little over a year ago as sports advisor to President Longoria, responsible in particular for recruitment, Mehdi (or Medhi) Benatia has just been officially inducted as director of Football by Olympique de Marseille. A deserved consecration for one of the key men in the revival of OM, second in Ligue 1 behind PSG.
A new page thus opens for Benatia. As a player, he started from very low (the French Ligue 2) before reaching the very high level and reaching the heights by playing for clubs like Roma, Bayern or Juventus. Sorry!
With The Atlas Lions, of which he was a valiant guide and captain, he played in a World Cup (Russia 2018) and a few CAN. A leader on and off the field, he was the type to hold down the house, a last defense, a real rock.
Read also: Olympique de Marseille: Medhi Benatia appointed Director of Football (official)
Once he retired, he did not leave football. Initially a player agent, he responded to the call from OM, a club he knows by heart, since he completed part of his training there.
This very beautiful career is somewhat reminiscent, all things considered, of that of Pape Diouf, who ended up president of OM after having been a sports journalist and players’ agent. The human aspect counts here as much as the athlete. A sports director earns less than an agent or impresario, but the prestige of the position is much greater.
Benatia, for those who approached him with the Lions, already had the makings of a future leader. He was the boss of the locker room and the main contact with the selectors, particularly during the time of Hervé Renard.
What is happening to Benatia today is all the more pleasing because it sounds like a beautiful and sweet revenge. Indeed, there are not many former “Lions” who have successfully retrained.
The day or life after has always been difficult to negotiate. We have Mustapha Hadji, faithful servant of Moroccan football but who has never established himself as number one, Said Chiba (FUS coach), or even Abdeslam Ouaddou whose coaching career is rather checkered (his passage through the MCO has plunged the prestigious Oriental club into an endless crisis). Let us also add Youssef Chippo, short-lived leader of his training club (KAC), who is now among the best analysts at beIN Sports. And that’s about it.
Even rarer are former internationals recycled into great leaders. This is not just particular to Morocco. Managing a high-level club requires superior qualities, intellectual but above all entrepreneurial and political. This is the next level, to which very few former football glories have been able to access. Let us cite in passing a Platini, who never followed through on his ideas…
Mehdi Benatia belongs to this race. He’s not even 40 yet and he’s already playing in the big leagues. We will follow him with all the more interest as his success bears the Morocco label. Bravo Mehdi, strength to you and to OM, the most North African of the major European clubs!
