OM: the extension of a patina frame

Olympian leaders are already working on the outlines of the 2023-24 squad. Pablo Longoria hopes in particular to keep one of the captains of the Marseille locker room.

After their defeat on the lawn of RC Lens this weekend, Olympique de Marseille no longer has its destiny in hand for second place in Ligue 1, synonymous with direct qualification for the next Champions League. Igor Tudor’s men will have to go faultless in the last four league games and hope for a misstep from Lens at the same time.

For a club, the difference is enormous between a second and a third place since the team which will finish third will have to go through two rounds of play-offs (disputed at the very beginning of the season) to reach the C1, something that French clubs are not only managed to do it once out of the last 10 attempts. Squad building is also much more difficult since the Champions League cannot be promoted to attract players.

Kolasinac has not yet made his decision on an extension

First, Pablo Longoria and Javier Ribalta will therefore try to retain the good elements of the group, Alexis Sanchez in the lead. The Chilean is coming to the end of his contract and will discuss his future at the end of the season with his leaders. Sead Kolasinac (29) is also one of the club’s priority issues. Free in June, the Bosnian is one of Igor Tudor’s key players and a boss of the locker room.

The club therefore offered him a two-year contract extension, but the former Gunner has not yet made his choice, explain our colleagues from Provence. However, optimism is de rigueur at the club, especially since the defender said he felt good in Marseille at the beginning of April: “I feel good here, I like playing for this club, I like everything around the club, I like living with my family herehe explained to the press. I really enjoy being here. I’m feeling really good and we’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.”

This season, Kolasinac has played 32 games in all competitions with OM, for 4 goals.