The Olympique Marseille Transfer Thread

[Allez Lyonnais]

Auxerre captain Benoit Cheyrou will be joining OM on a four-year deal.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070620_231441Dev.html

Just how many defensive midfielders are they trying to have?

[blackjack]

Auxerre captain Benoit Cheyrou will be joining OM on a four-year deal.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070620_231441Dev.html

Just how many defensive midfielders are they trying to have?

I'm guessing that with the arrival of Cheyrou, Sable may not be coming after all.

[Allez Lyonnais]

Le Mans left back Laurent Bonnart is being linked with a move to Velodrome. Supposedly, Marseille are in search of a replacement for Taiwo who could be leaving the club this summer after two and a half seasons.

[MetroChile]

Le Mans left back Laurent Bonnart is being linked with a move to Velodrome. Supposedly, Marseille are in search of a replacement for Taiwo who could be leaving the club this summer after two and a half seasons.

I read yesterday we were interested in Gregory Paisley (Troyes), as well.

We're not exactly going into CL-calibre territory with these signings (am I the only one that thinks so?). I think Sable def. has the right tools/potential to go in that direction, but everyone else...

Metro

[blackjack]

I'm not so sure I agree with you Metro. If you look at our transfer dealings over the last few years, we've failed miserably when going for big name players. Lizarazu, Van Buyten, Christanval, Fiorese, etc., they have not done well at Marseille. I like the idea of buying younger French players who can develop together. Let's be honest with ourselves: we're probably not going to win the CL this season. But with the right blend of star power (Taiwo, Cana, Nasri, Cisse, Rodriguez, Giuly?) and good young players who can develop around them (Civelli, Cheyrou, Faty, Valbuena) we'll challenge Lyon in the league this season and have a really solid core for the years to come.

[SportBoy333]

You cant expect much better than what you are getting as long as Dreyfuss and his puppet(Diouf)are in control. They are just trying to be a large French club not a large European club like they should be.

[MetroChile]

I'm not so sure I agree with you Metro. If you look at our transfer dealings over the last few years, we've failed miserably when going for big name players. Lizarazu, Van Buyten, Christanval, Fiorese, etc., they have not done well at Marseille. I like the idea of buying younger French players who can develop together. Let's be honest with ourselves: we're probably not going to win the CL this season. But with the right blend of star power (Taiwo, Cana, Nasri, Cisse, Rodriguez, Giuly?) and good young players who can develop around them (Civelli, Cheyrou, Faty, Valbuena) we'll challenge Lyon in the league this season and have a really solid core for the years to come.

You cant expect much better than what you are getting as long as Dreyfuss and his puppet(Diouf)are in control. They are just trying to be a large French club not a large European club like they should be.

I think you both bring up good points: it's nice to see we're thinking about the future. Then again, we qualified for the CL--I am not so sure guys like Faty, Civelli and Valbuena are necessarily ready for that. I personally wanted one player for each position with (decent) CL experience: one defender, one mid, one forward. I don't think our defense could hold up very well against CL-calibre teams. The only one player that I think will be able to hold his ground in that comp. would be Cana. I also hope I am wrong and our team does very well in Europe. :)

Metro

[Allez Lyonnais]

Bonnart will be signing a three-year contract this week. Marseille have also reached an agreement with Monaco captain Gael Givet.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070621_193625Dev.html

This is how OM defense may line up next season. Keep in mind that both Taiwo and Beye could be leaving.

---Taiwo (Bonnart)------------------------Beye (Bocaly)
-----------Givet (Faty)------Rodriguez (Zubar)----------
----------------------Carrasso--------------------------

[Inara]

Marseille could use a better goalkeeper. Carrasso isn't what you need to mount a serious challenge on the title and a good run in the CL.

[blackjack]

Bonnart will be signing a three-year contract this week. Marseille have also reached an agreement with Monaco captain Gael Givet.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070621_193625Dev.html

This is how OM defense may line up next season. Keep in mind that both Taiwo and Beye could be leaving.

---Taiwo (Bonnart)------------------------Beye (Bocaly)
-----------Givet (Faty)------Rodriguez (Zubar)----------
----------------------Carrasso--------------------------

This confuses me a little, since the management seemed so high on Cantareil at various points over the last two seasons. Is he being shown the door?

[Allez Lyonnais]

Sable could be the sixth signing of Marseille this summer after Faty, Gragnic, Cheyrou, Bonnart, and Givet. You guys sure are busy.

http://www.football365.fr/depeches/filinfo_171830_34_Marseille-Sable-apres-Bonnart-.shtml

[Inara]

I thought Cantereil signed for Lorient?

[Allez Lyonnais]

This confuses me a little, since the management seemed so high on Cantareil at various points over the last two seasons. Is he being shown the door?
He joined Lorient.

[jpick]

Bonnart will be signing a three-year contract this week. Marseille have also reached an agreement with Monaco captain Gael Givet.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070621_193625Dev.html

This is how OM defense may line up next season. Keep in mind that both Taiwo and Beye could be leaving.

---Taiwo (Bonnart)------------------------Beye (Bocaly)
-----------Givet (Faty)------Rodriguez (Zubar)----------
----------------------Carrasso--------------------------

seems pretty solid with cana in front. yeah, carasso could be upgraded, but with who?

[blackjack]

He joined Lorient.

Thanks. I don't know how I managed to miss out on that news.

[blackjack]

So at the moment, it looks like our lineup for next season could look something like:

------------Carrasso-------------
-------Givet-------Rodriguez------
Beye------------------------Taiwo
----------Cana----Cheyrou--------
--------------Nasri----------------
-----Valbuena-------Niang---------
--------------Cisse----------------

That's not bad. It really puts a lot of pressure on the fullbacks to get up and down the flanks, and it really requires a lot of covering from the defensive midfielders.

[Inara]

seems pretty solid with cana in front. yeah, carasso could be upgraded, but with who?


So many options. France is filled with good goalkeepers. For young stars, there is Lloris, but I think he signed an extension with Nice, so he's not possible. But Remy Riou will be going out back on loan, and he's really good (good enough that I wish Vercoutre would leave so that Riou could come back to Lyon). Also Yohann Pele at Le Mans, who's being scouted by Arsenal and listed by Domenech as a potential future goalkeeper for the NT (and even better, has had two years of L1 experience). There is also Benoit Costil, who is Caen's goalkeeper. He's an amazing talent, but he is handicapped because he just spent the previous year in L2.

In terms of established gks, Richert from Sochaux (remember him? :p ) is one of my favorites. Jeremie Janot is a good one too, but I doubt you could prise him away from St. Etienne.

And this is all from the top of my head! There are many more who are better than Carrasso (it's really not that hard to be better than dear Cedric).

Oh, and Fabulous Fabien is without a club but still wants to play in France....;)

[Allez Lyonnais]

Marseille could use a better goalkeeper. Carrasso isn't what you need to mount a serious challenge on the title and a good run in the CL.
He's lost a lot of weight and improved tremendously over the course of his career. Moreover, he's a local boy who has the love for his shirt unlike many of the other players on the team and I think he deserves a little more respect than getting thrown away just after one full season.

[Inara]

He's lost a lot of weight and improved tremendously over the course of his career. Moreover, he's a local boy who has the love for his shirt unlike many of the other players on the team and I think he deserves a little more respect than getting thrown away just after one full season.

No one's doubting that he loves his shirt, but if Marseille is going to make the point of overhauling their entire squad to make it a title worthy team, it would make sense to go that extra distance. At one point it's necessary to stop being sentimental and to make cold blooded decisions instead.

In any case, bringing in a young, promising goalkeeper would at least give Carrasso some competition and force him to work for his spot. Right now, he's the obvious choice, and it's made him kind of lazy, and with no hope of making it onto the NT, he doesn't really have a position to fight for.

[Allez Lyonnais]

No one's doubting that he loves his shirt, but if Marseille is going to make the point of overhauling their entire squad to make it a title worthy team, it would make sense to go that extra distance. At one point it's necessary to stop being sentimental and to make cold blooded decisions instead.

In any case, bringing in a young, promising goalkeeper would at least give Carrasso some competition and force him to work for his spot. Right now, he's the obvious choice, and it's made him kind of lazy, and with no hope of making it onto the NT, he doesn't really have a position to fight for.
His form stopped suffering during the second half of the season and from then on he started producing some magnificent saves that once made Marseille let go of Barthez. Diouf has already stated that the club is not looking for new first choice goalkeeper.