Medhi Benatia still shaping OM exits as McCourt-backed transition with Lorenzi continues | OneFootball

Medhi Benatia remains an influence at OM despite leaving in May. According to L'Équipe, owner Frank McCourt extended his notice and has kept him involved.

Benatia resigned amid February turmoil but stayed after McCourt’s intervention. He insisted he would go after the final day and spoke of a perhaps more lucrative life beyond OM, even making an overture to PSG’s Nasser al-Khelaïfi. Marseille finished fifth.

Though no longer employed and without an office at La Commanderie, he remains a key interlocutor at McCourt’s request. He keeps close links with Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson and is seeking offers for about a dozen players, including Leonardo Balerdi and Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg, for whom a Saudi proposal was recently secured.

The club rejects suggestions of sale mandates that would amount to unlicensed agency work, casting his role as transitional support for Grégory Lorenzi. Lorenzi is also active on departures, using contacts in Italy, Türkiye and the Gulf.

With limited means, Lorenzi must rebuild while his predecessor oversees most exits, a two-headed arrangement that has puzzled rivals. Federico Balzaretti, hired by Benatia and now reporting to Lorenzi, bridges the pair and is sounding out agents.

He has also backed allies such as Bob Tahri, who faces an internal probe over moral harassment, Ali Zarrak, linked to Jean-Pierre Papin’s exit, and Bel-Abbès Bouaissi, whose remit has been reduced. Tahri and Zarrak have not been seen recently at La Commanderie, and their retention in revised roles is under consideration.

Source: L'Équipe