Longoria hopes to negotiate OM exit after McCourt reshuffle limits role | OneFootball

Pablo Longoria hopes to negotiate his departure from OM after being sidelined by owner Frank McCourt’s reshuffle, though any agreement may not be straightforward. According to L'Équipe, the president has been restricted to a representative role in football institutions.

Forty-eight hours after McCourt issued a statement to calm the club’s internal crisis, questions still hang over governance and, in particular, Longoria’s short-term future.

He has been limited to representation on the Ligue de Football Professionnel board and at European Football Clubs (EFC). The new brief does not suit him, and he was deeply affected by McCourt’s communication, which neither involved him in the decision nor warned him.

Removed from sporting operations, where director of football Medhi Benatia is now solely in charge, Longoria, 39, is awaiting concrete talks between his lawyer and McCourt’s team. He sees only one outcome, a departure after nearly five years, having been appointed in late February 2021.

Talks may not move quickly, even though chief executive Alessandro Antonello and former Longoria allies are handling day-to-day matters for now. If the Spaniard leaves, the club would lose its voice in national bodies, as LFP board seats are 'intuitae personae', personal rather than in the club’s name. His seat would then be contested at the next election.

McCourt considers LFP representation crucial, likely the main lever in negotiations. Both sides are seeking a dignified outcome and want to avoid an open conflict that would again burden a climate only just eased.

Source: L'Équipe