Five years in charge & a future in flux

Spain's Pablo Longoria marked five years at Olympique Marseille on Thursday. Having arrived as sporting director before navigating the perennial turbulence of the Velodrome as president, his once-dominant influence has steadily waned to the point where he now appears to be nearing the end of his tenure.

According to reports, Longoria is negotiating his departure from the club following the latest internal upheaval triggered weeks ago by the dismissal of head coach Roberto de Zerbi—an episode that seems to have signalled the final chapter of his reign.

In a move that defied expectations, Olympique Marseille recently announced that the Spaniard's duties would be restricted to institutional representation, representing the club within French and European governing bodies. The decision was widely interpreted as a formal marginalisation of his actual power.

Simultaneously, the club handed the reins of the sporting project to former player Medhi Benatia. In a dramatic turn of events, Benatia had announced his resignation just a day prior, only to perform a swift U-turn and see his role as sporting director significantly reinforced.

Behind the scenes, Longoria's profile—previously that of an omnipotent chief acting on behalf of American billionaire owner Frank McCourt—has been completely overshadowed.

In parallel, the influence of Sheherazde Semsar de Boisseson continues to grow. An influential lawyer of Iranian descent and a close confidante of the owner, she manages McCourt's personal holding company. Since 2024, she has served as the number two on the Olympique Marseille Board of Directors, becoming increasingly pivotal to the club's daily operations.

Increasingly sidelined from core decision-making, Longoria is now negotiating his exit. While some media outlets have linked him with a return to Juventus, where he oversaw recruitment between 2015 and 2018, others suggest Marseille's new hierarchy is backing Pauline Gamerre as his successor. Gamerre currently serves as general director of Red Star, a second-division club on the outskirts of Paris, and is a member of the French Football Federation's Executive Committee.

Regardless of the outcome, Longoria no longer holds a central role at Marseille. It marks a stark shift for a man who joined in July 2020 following a career that spanned Newcastle, Recreativo de Huelva, Atalanta, Sassuolo, Juventus, and Valencia.

It was this vast experience that led McCourt to appoint him in 2021 during one of the club's customary crises, capitalising on an open demeanour that initially seemed to strike a chord with one of Europe's most volatile fanbases.

Two runners-up finishes mark his tenure

In his first full season at the helm of Olympique Marseille, he secured a runners-up finish, guaranteeing a return to the Champions League. This success was built on his personal gamble on Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli, a move that saw his popularity soar.

However, the honeymoon was short-lived. The former Argentina national team coach resigned abruptly just weeks later, discontented with the lack of ambition regarding new signings, and the instability returned.

The arrival of Igor Tudor in the dugout and Chilean icon Alexis Sanchez on the pitch brought a tactical shift, moving from Sampaoli's possession-based game to the Croatian's high-intensity pressing. This approach yielded a third-place finish in Ligue 1, necessitating a tricky Champions League qualifying route.

The volatile atmosphere also failed to convince Tudor, who vacated his post for Spaniard Marcelino Garcia Toral. Marcelino's tenure was brief and bruising; the club failed to qualify for the Champions League, and he left following a harrowing night with supporters.

That incident, perhaps the darkest moment of Longoria's presidency, occurred on 19th September 2023: a meeting with fan groups descended into insults and threats. This prompted the Asturian coach to resign and the president to consider his own future, before McCourt eventually convinced him to stay.

Gennaro Gattuso replaced Marcelino but failed to see out the season, which the team finished in a lowly eighth place. They then placed their faith in De Zerbi, who secured the second runners-up finish of the Longoria era in his debut year, but failed to provide the long-term continuity the president desired.

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