Marseille (AFP)

"Zubi", it's over. Olympique de Marseille announced Thursday evening that it will separate from its sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta, which could lead to the departure of coach André Villas-Boas, who had linked his fate to that of the Spaniard.

"The OM announces the departure, by mutual agreement, of Andoni Zubizarreta", it is written in the press release of the club, specifying that "the recruitment of a general manager in charge of football is in progress", for the replace.

There remained a year of contract with Zubi, arrived in the fall of 2016 in the suitcases of Frank McCourt, the owner, and Jacques-Henri Eyraud, the president.

"Andoni devoted himself to the renewal of OM (...) in order to rebuild solid foundations (...) of the professional group as well as of the training center," said Eyraud in the press release.

McCourt hailed for his part "a remarkable professional".

A source close to the file, it is the recruitment of a general manager of football, planned for the fall of 2019, which pushed Zubizarreta not to prolong the adventure. The latter was going to encroach on his reserved domain.

But the former goalkeeper of FC Barcelona and the Spanish team, the basic man of the first phase of the project, had not all succeeded in Marseille either.

- He failed to sell -

Arrived in the fall of 2016 shortly after the takeover of the club by Frank McCourt, the former DS of FC Barça helped to structure the club, in particular at the level of the training center, but his action on the transfer window was not always successful.

The recruiting of Patrice Evra, chased after kicking a supporter during a match in Portugal, or the "panic purchase" of the Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou at the end of the transfer window 2017, proved to be failures, for example.

The biggest disbursement of Zubi on the transfer window remains to have failed to sell players, especially in the summer of 2019, when OM needed cash to reduce its liabilities before the controllers of financial fair play management of Uefa.

Zubi also made "hits". Finally, he leaves at the end of the season for his best transfer window. The arrivals of defender Alvaro Gonzalez (Villarreal), midfielder Valentin Rongier (Nantes) and goalscorer Dario Benedetto were all successful.

Finally, the recruitment of Portuguese coach André Villas-Boas was without doubt the best idea of ​​his mandate.

"In Basque we say: + Amaya da asiera +, the end is the beginning. I end up as sports director and I start as a supporter of OM," wrote Zubizarreta, thanking McCourt, Eyraud and Rudi Garcia, the first coach of the 'OM American version, which replaced Franck Passi during the 2016/2017 season.

Zubi leaves despite a second place and a qualification for the Champions League, won by the coach he had chosen this summer, AVB.

- A proposed extension to AVB -

On January 15, the Portuguese had publicly supported Zubi's work. At that time, the arrival of the Englishman Paul Aldridge as a counselor could already be seen as an encroachment on the territory of the Spanish.

"I came here, one for the size of the club, two for Andoni Zubizarreta. I have already said that my future is intimately linked to its future," said AVB.

In recent days, the Portuguese technician has met Eyraud several times, in particular to discuss the workforce for next year.

To retain its brilliant coach, whom the players adore, OM proposed an extension to Villas-Boas, to which there remains a year of contract. "The ball is in his court," blows a connoisseur of the file.

The equation remains complex. The coach dreams of a big team and reinforcements, the club has to do with limited cash.

OM, after three consecutive investment seasons ended on a negative balance (91.4 million euros in losses last June), is closely monitored by financial fair play and should receive its sanction in June for non-compliance of its commitments.

At the club, we assure "not to have renounced our sporting ambitions". But it will be without Zubi.

© 2020 AFP