• The 29-year-old Ukrainian player Ruslan Malinovskyi has been loaned by Atalanta Bergamo to Olympique de Marseille with a compulsory purchase option of 10 million euros plus around 3 million in bonuses.

  • He was officially presented this Thursday by the president of OM, Pablo Longoria, after playing his first minutes in the Olympian jersey on Wednesday against Troyes (0-2).

  • Monday, a few minutes after having passed his medical examination, Ruslan Malinovskyi met Ukrainian children and their refugee families in Marseille, which he invited for his first home match on Saturday against Lorient (7 p.m.).

He thought he would arrive last summer, and had to wait until January to land at Olympique de Marseille.

But since he set foot in Marseille at the start of the week from Atalanta Bergamo, thanks to a loan with a compulsory purchase option of around 10 million euros, plus 3 bonuses , according to several media, Ruslan Malinovskyi is making up for lost time.

After first contacts "in January 2021 after the sale of Morgan Sanson" and "a non-dry from Atalanta", then "negotiations which did not come to an end" in the summer of 2022, according to the president of the OM, Pablo Longoria, the 29-year-old player "had no doubts" when his agent told him about the possibility of joining OM this winter.

“It was the most concrete proposal.

I saw the team play, I watched a lot of games because I was thinking of coming last summer and I really like what the team is doing.

I also spoke with the coach, he likes dynamic football and that's what I also like to destabilize the opponent", explained the player who considers his arrival at OM, "the biggest club French" as "a big step forward" in his career.

First minutes against Troyes

Arrived fifteen minutes late for his official presentation on Thursday because of prolonged training, Ruslan Malinovskyi has been busy since his arrival in Marseille earlier this week.

The day before his presentation, he played his first 30 minutes in the Olympian jersey in Troyes (0-2), with a yellow card on his first action, before showing his qualities of percussion and passes.

“I feel good, I'm happy to have played my first minutes, my first victory with Marseille.

It's just the starting point.

I'm a little disappointed with the yellow card, because there was no foul.

We felt as if we had played at home, thank you to the supporters and I hope that when we play at home, it will be even more fire, "he said after the victory against Troyes. .



That same morning, he flew to Aube, just after taking a photo with the supporter Titi, an essential rite for every new Olympique de Marseille player.

With only one workout in the legs.

“Bringing joy to the people who support me from Ukraine”

Malinovskyi "feels ready" - thanks to extensive preparation in December in Italy and "double training" - to help OM win and help the club "achieve its objectives".

But also to give joy to his fellow citizens who have to face the war with Russia.

“It was not an easy year, we were playing a match against Olympiakos when the first bombings took place that very morning.

But I told my coach that I wanted to play to bring joy to my friends and the people who support me from Ukraine.

A lot of friends told me that I didn't just play for my club, but also for them.

So if for 1h30 I can bring joy, it's important.

I have to say it again, we Ukrainians are strong and we have to face this situation in unity,” he recalled,

Since his arrival less than a week ago, it is also the meeting with Ukrainian families, organized by Olympique de Marseille, on Monday, which has marked him the most, by his own admission.

"It was a very important gesture on the part of the club, I was happy to see fellow citizens," he said.

“Ruslan made our children smile”

Natalia Dobryanska, president of the Marseilles - Odessa association [the two cities are twinned], was present with a dozen Ukrainian children and their families, most of them refugees in France because of the war with Russia: "They were delighted with this moment, I can say that Ruslan made our children smile.

I am often with them, and they are in such a state of sadness that they have become old.

It was the first time that I saw these children smiling, with their eyes shining.

Mothers called me to tell me how important this moment had been for them.

»


Ruslan Malinovskyi, who had very quickly taken a stand against the war when he was at Atalanta, was "particularly marked" by his meeting with a soldier wounded in combat, and treated in Marseille.

“Ruslan was very nice to him, he asked him a lot of questions and encouraged him.

He is a good, optimistic, benevolent and very polite person.

He is simple, cheerful and was very nice with the children, he did not make the star.

I was surprised to see him so accessible, with his wife they are very committed and I am sure that with all these qualities, he will very quickly integrate into OM”, considers Natalia Dobryanska.

She will encourage "Marseille even more now that Ruslan is here", "you know, it's impossible to live in Marseille and not be a fan of OM", she recalls.

Like Roksana, Ruslan Malinovskyi's wife, who hastened to read

Histoire illustrée de l'Olympique de Marseille

by Christopher and Jean-François Peres.

She will have the opportunity to discover her second home, the Vélodrome stadium, from Saturday against Lorient (7 p.m.), alongside the Ukrainian families that Ruslan Malinovskyi invited for his first home, after having offered them signed jerseys on Monday.

Just to feel a little more at home.

Sport

Mercato: OM have their first recruit with the arrival of attacking midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi on Monday

Sport

OM signs a partnership with the label of Marseille rapper Jul

  • Soccer

  • Sport

  • League 1

  • Olympic Marseille (OM)

  • War in Ukraine

  • Mercato OM