Marseille (AFP)
"Olympique de Marseille is not for sale", assured the president of the club, Jacques-Henri Eyraud Saturday, the day after the revelation of a buyout offer made by the former leader of the Toulon Rugby Club, Mourad Boudjellal.
"I thank the people who have a financial interest in OM, but we are not interested in the session," added "JHE".
Friday, the offer of 700 million euros, with Saudi funds, led by Boudjellal, had agitated French football.
This offer would be structured in 300 M EUR for the buyout of the club, 200 M EUR to settle debts and another 200 M EUR for the transfer window.
Frank McCourt, the American owner of OM, has already invested more than EUR 300 million in the club: EUR 50 million on purchase, EUR 78 million in debt recovery and around EUR 220 million in transfers.
Some sources familiar with the matter believe that EUR 300 million is a good price for McCourt, who would not lose too much in the case.
Others, on the contrary, point out that the American businessman, if he has to resell, will do so much later and profitably.
He had thus made a very nice financial transaction by selling his baseball team of the Los Angeles Dodgers more than 2 billion dollars when he had bought them 430 million dollars.
Internally, it is emphasized that the McCourt project is "long term", like the contract extension with simultaneous salary cut by playmaker Dimitri Payet, announced on Saturday.
© 2020 AFP