• Jorge Sampaoli and Olympique de Marseille, of which he had been the coach since March 2021, have decided to end their collaboration "by mutual agreement".

  • Pablo Longoria, the president of OM, and Jorge Sampaoli share "the same ambitions", but with "a different timing", hence the end of the collaboration.

  • The Marseille leader hopes to appoint a new coach by Monday.

Jorge Sampaoli and Olympique de Marseille, it's already over.

The Olympian club and the Argentinian coach announced the end of their collaboration on Friday, to everyone's surprise.

“It's not an easy day.

We decided to separate by mutual agreement.

I thank Jorge for the very good football and human moments that we experienced together.

It is a friend.

He was honest until the end, ”explained Pablo Longoria during a press conference.

Jorge Sampaoli will therefore only last two days as a coach for his second season at Olympique de Marseille, while the players have returned to training since Wednesday.

But the signals of a possible departure had been multiplying for a few hours.

Rumors had already reported the Argentinian's weariness with the slowness of OM's summer transfer window, finally launched on Thursday with the signing of young defender Isaak Touré (Le Havre, L2).

Same ambitions, but different timing

But Sampaoli wanted more seasoned reinforcements for the next Champions League.

“My rhythm and my objectives are not the same as those of the leaders.

There is nothing wrong with pretending different things.

The important thing is to strive for excellence and to want the best for OM,” said the coach in a message posted on Instagram.

In it, he thanks "Pablo Longoria, the players, the club's employees and the supporters".

“It's a question of timing in the project.

We have the same ambitions, but different times”, confirmed Pablo Longoria a little later.

The president of OM and his new director of football, Javier Ribalta, went to Brazil a few days ago to warn the Argentine coach of the club's constraints in terms of payroll for this summer transfer window.

Sampaoli's expectations for the new season and the Champions League were therefore less and less in line with the economic realities of Olympique de Marseille.

His statements just before the last match of the season against Strasbourg now take on their full meaning.

“Will we be able to build a squad for the Champions League and face teams cut out for this competition with a budget, a club and a coach?

Or do we want to be there for four or six games and stop?

It's up to the club to be sincere at this level," he said.

Sampaoli now has the answers he was waiting for.

Left “without asking anything”

Shortly before his appointment in March 2021 and the departures of André Villas-Boas and Jacques-Henri Eyraud after the Commanderie incidents, Pablo Longoria wanted "stability" within the club, but the bubbling Sampaoli leaves after a season complete only.

“Jorge has waived all his contracts.

He left as he arrived, he is ambitious.

He had a lot of respect for the club.

All the people who arrived with Jorge took the same direction, without asking anything, it must be emphasized, it is rare in football, ”explained Pablo Longoria.

The president of OM is now actively looking for a coach "in a coherent project" with "more resources than last season, revenues are increasing with the Champions League".

The Spaniard "hopes to have a new coach in place next Monday", while "discussions" are underway with several, but Pablo Longoria has "a coach in mind, this is the track we want to focus on".

The name of Roberto De Zerbi has come back with insistence on the side of Marseille since the announcement of the departure of Sampaoli.

Our file on OM

Pablo Longoria also reaffirmed OM's ambitions in terms of the transfer window with the desire to "increase the level of the team" and "meet the expectations of the supporters".

“The transfer window is very slow.

You have to have patience.

I am comfortable, ”he wanted to be reassuring after this surprise announcement.

But unlike his mentor Marcelo Bielsa, Jorge Sampaoli left as soon as he felt the tide turn.

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