Marley Aké leaves Olympique de Marseille to sign for Juventus Turin.

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Daniel Cole / AP / SIPA

  • The young player of Olympique de Marseille, Marley Aké will sign up for four and a half years at Juventus Turin. 

  • Franco Tongya, midfielder of Juventus Turin, where he did not play with the professional group, is going the other way and will sign a three and a half year contract with OM. 

  • This exchange / transfer is of more financial than sporting interest thanks to the play of accounting entries. 

A sleight of hand made in Italy.

Marley Aké, a young 21-year-old player, and his club, Olympique de Marseille, were looking for a base during this winter transfer window, in order to find more playing time. First announced in Le Havre, in Ligue 2, or in Nîmes, in Ligue 1, Marley Aké will finally join Juventus Turin, to sign a four-and-a-half-year contract, according to RMC.

A not-so-crazy turnaround.

Marley Aké will join the ranks of Juve in exchange for Franco Tongya, an 18-year-old Italian, who will sign him until 2024. He has not played a single minute in the Italian professional squad, but he is considered like a very good hope.

And his situation poses a problem within the Turin club: he would ask for a significant salary increase as well as a signing bonus while his contract ends in June.

Juve would therefore like to part with it and Pablo Longoria, OM's sports director and former head of recruitment in Turin, knows the player well.

"More modern operations"

"The exchange with Juventus are more modern and active operations," Pablo Longoria said during Arkadiusz Milik's presentation on Tuesday.

Because if it is presented as an exchange, the operation is more like a dry transfer with a valuation of the price of the players.

With an advantage which is more financial than sporting.

As AFP explained in an article last summer on "the exchange" between Arthur, Barça, and Pjanic, Juve, "during a transfer, the cost of purchasing the player is spread in the form of amortization over the entire duration of his contract.

On the other hand, the capital gain on sale (the sale price minus the residual value of the player's contract) is immediately entered in the accounts ”.

Franco Tongya leaves Juventus Turin, where he did not play with the pro group, for OM.

- Cristiano Mazzi / SPP / Shutterstock / SIPA

Short term

Concretely, if a club buys a player 10 million euros for a five-year contract, it enters 2 million on the expenditure line the first year of the contract, then 2 million the second year, and so on.

If at the same time it sells a player 10 million, the club enters 10 million, less the cost of the contract, on the revenue line.

Over the first year, the results are positive at 8 million.

“In reality these are just accounting entries, you smooth the transaction at a time that is more interesting than another.

In the case of Aké and Tongya, they are two players trained in their club so there is no purchase cost.

If you take Tongya at 5 million over 5 years, that costs you a million, and you sell Aké 5 million, that makes you 5 million in income.

You have a profit of +4 million over the year, ”decrypts Urbastaga, supporter of Olympique de Marseille who follows the finances of his club closely.

"It gives air to end the year"

UEFA authorities would begin to look into the issue, but Urbastaga does not judge the practice as "immoral": "It's just an accounting valuation.

As for the loan with obligation to purchase, it shifts the amount of the transfer.

It's just tinkering to override financial fair play, in the hyper short term.

It gives air to end the year ”.

An essential breath of fresh air for Olympique de Marseille in the face of a financial situation complicated by the Covid-19 crisis and the Mediapro fiasco.

But we can also find a sporting stake in this transaction, especially on the side of OM.

Franco Tongya is considered a very good hope on the Italian side, and especially Pablo Longoria has been following him for a while.

He is only 18 years old, and all the time exploding in midfield, while OM have just sold Morgan Sanson.

Marley Aké, he should not join the first team of Juve, but make his weapons with the reserve team in the 3rd division.

Or get loaned in a low ranking club in Serie A, or in Serie B.

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