Olympique de Marseille announced on Sunday the recruitment of Spaniard Pablo Longoria, 33, as the new deputy managing director in charge of football. The young leader, passed by Newcastle, Juventus Turin and Valencia, "will oversee the entire sports sector, from the first team to the training center", while being in charge of recruitment.
OM thus completes the reorganization of its organization chart initiated by President Jacques-Henri Eyraud after the departure, in May, of the previous sports director Andoni Zubizarreta. With the appointments of Longoria and Hugues Ouvrard as "Head of business", the club officially begins the second phase of its development, marked by the return to the Champions League next season.
"We are now starting the second phase of our plan together. Everything is in place so that we can climb the next summit together", reacted the American owner Frank McCourt, in the press release. Longoria, whose arrival was leaked to the press on Saturday, has already worked as a recruiter in Newcastle (England), Huelva (Spain) and in Italy, in Sassuolo, Atalanta Bergamo and especially Juventus, where he was director of recruitment from 2015 to 2018.
A young, international and recruiting profile
Its young, international and recruiting profile corresponds to the robot portrait drawn by OM, which intends in particular to develop its "player trading", by multiplying the capital gains on the purchase-resale of players. This talent hunter is known in Spain for having been part of the trio which brought Valencia CF back to the European scene, where he was sporting director between February 2018 and September 2019.
"Football is inconceivable without passion. My last choices. were founded on the passion and history of the clubs where I have worked. I am proud to have this great opportunity to be able to put my skills at the service of one of the most historic clubs in Europe and in French football " , said the native of Asturias.
"Through a particularly rigorous process, we were looking for a very experienced sports manager, who had worked with top European clubs, who brought a new approach to this function. With Pablo Longoria, we found this combination, as well as the human qualities that have made us impressed, "said Jacques-Henri Eyraud for his part.