Why Enzo Sternal will leave OM permanently

«Under the Olympian colors, he won a title of French U17 champion during the 2022-2023 season and greatly participated in the victory in the Gambardella Cup during the 2023-2024 season, by scoring, among other things, 4 goals during the course of the young Marseille players. . The versatile striker who also has 22 caps with the U16 and U17 of the French team, notably participated in the last Euro U17 in Cyprus. This Wednesday, August 7, 2024, he signs a contract extension with OM. He is now linked to his training club until 2027 and will wear the number 22.» Last August, OM proudly announced on its official website the extension of Enzo Sternal even though he is one year from the end of his contract.

The rest after this ad

The 17-year-old striker, who has been considered a phenomenon since he arrived in Marseille in July 2022 from AS Nancy, and who was one of the architects of Marseille's victory in the Coupe Gambardella (4 goals and 2 assists in 6 matches) is then coveted by many French clubs (OL, LOSC) and European clubs. Marseille then secures a player who represents the future of OM in the company of Yanis Sellami and Darryl Bakola. Roberto De Zerbi quickly integrated him into the pro group upon his arrival, trusted him and lined him up during friendly matches in a false nine role. RDZ even offered him his first professional minutes during Marseille's great victory in Brest (1-5) at the opening of the championship. Then will come 11 more short minutes against Montpellier and then nothing more.

OM want to sell the player to Anderlecht while keeping control over him

Navigating between the national U19s and the National 3, the U18 international tricolor must continue his learning at the high level. But the native of Nancy is getting impatient and does not hide his dissatisfaction internally. From then on and given the player's rating, the Marseille board decided to open the door to a departure so that Sternal could benefit from more playing time in an environment more in line with his current level. This is essentially what Roberto De Zerbi revealed in a press conference before the Coupe de France OM-LOSC match.I didn't use him much because there were players better than him like Greenwood, Maupay, Wahi and I base it on what I see on the pitch. I only focus on the field and if the field gives me answers, I act accordingly. I only focus on that. I don't give gifts to players. If he didn't play, it's because he didn't deserve to.»

The rest after this ad

As revealed on Sunday evening, Anderlecht is very interested in the idea of ​​recovering the great Marseille hope and has already started discussions with OM. If there is no agreement between the clubs, there is optimism on both sides. According to our information, this is a sale. But be careful, the Marseille club wants to maintain control over the player even in the event of a permanent departure to Anderlecht. Thus, Marseille has activated a priority buyout clause in the event of good performance by the player in the Jupiler Pro League and also includes a percentage on resale.