“Of course we want to compete with Paris,” says OM's new coach Roberto De Zerbi, who has stated his ambitions.

He is one of the new faces of Ligue 1 version 2024-2025. Arriving in Marseille in June, while he was announced in the biggest clubs in Europe after his departure from Brighton, Roberto De Zerbi is the face of the new ambitions of a hyperactive OM on the transfer market. Knighted by Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa, the Italian technician, renowned for the quality of his teams' play, returned to the conditions of his arrival in an interview given to L'Équipe this Thursday.

“I already wanted to come in 2022,” revealed the Brescia native. I think it didn't happen because of disagreements between the sporting director Javier Ribalta and Pablo Longoria (…) This time, Pablo and Mehdi Benatia (sporting advisor) did everything, in their behavior and their speeches, to make it happen. They respected me, made me feel important, they were lovely and honest with me. (…) I think we reached an agreement in less than five minutes,” confided RDZ.

“I knew before signing that it would be a mess”

Eager to “bring about radical change” within a team that finished the previous season in a dismal 8th place while changing “the mentality”, De Zerbi was part of the XXL transfer window carried out by the Marseille club this summer. Mason Greenwood, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Elye Wahi… OM continues to recruit and has already spent nearly 180 million euros for ten arrivals, against ten departures.

“Greenwood? The first player I called.”

Asked about the Greenwood case, recruited for 26 million euros despite the English striker's previous cases of domestic violence, “RDZ” continued in line with his presentation conference, when he declared that he considered each of his players as “his children”. “I didn't defend him,” he nevertheless corrected to L'Équipe. “I said that when a player becomes my player, I'm the first to pin him to the wall if he makes a mistake. But in relation to the outside world, I will always defend him as I would defend my son.”

Delighted to have the former Manchester United right winger in his ranks, De Zerbi revealed some behind-the-scenes information about Greenwood's signing: “He was the first player I called. I spoke to his father, who must be the same age as me. I warned him about the demands of this club, telling him: OM is OM.”

“I want to have goosebumps”

Particularly motivated by his new challenge, the former Brighton and Shakhtar Donetsk coach remains ambitious despite the absence of European competition this season. “I want to have goosebumps, wake up thinking about blowing up the Vélodrome, getting Greenwood to score 15 goals and Wahi to 20,” he explained, who wants to compete with PSG in the long term. “It's our dream. When? I don't know. But of course it's our ambition, otherwise you don't come to OM. We can't pretend either, of course we want to compete with Paris. No one should forget that at OM, and I'm not just talking about the players.”