Olympique de Marseille endured a tough summer. As well as being forced to sell off many of their major assets, the club failed to recruit a single player during the transfer window. That was a result of promises made to UEFA and DNCG at the start of the summer, which allowed the club to honour their qualification to the UEFA Europa League, but subsequently left them hamstrung in the market.

OM’s sporting director, Grégory Lorenzi, has now gone into depth regarding the club’s transfer window. He revealed how the club did make attempts to sign players, reaching out to entourages, but, as a result of the financial situation, being unable to give the green light.

Lorenzi revealed that one of the players that he spoke to – and Bruno Genesio spoke to – was Zachary Athekame. “I spoke to him, Genesio spoke to him,” Lorenzi told L’Équipe, however, the Swiss international instead joined fierce rivals Olympique Lyonnais on a season-long loan from AC Milan.