Julien Fournier dreams of Marseille return

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Olympique de Marseille are in the market for a new sporting director. Medhi Benatia returned to the club after handing in his resignation back in February, following Roberto De Zerbi’s exit, however, as confirmed by the club’s owner, Frank McCourt, the Moroccan will leave the club at the end of the season.

The search for his successor is already underway. As reported by La Provence, there are several names in the mix, including Sunderland’s Florent Ghisolfi, Stade Brestois’ Grégory Lorenzi, and Le Havre AC’s Mathieu Bodmer. The latter laughed off the links when asked about a move to OM on Monday. Brest’s Lorenzi, meanwhile, is heavily linked with replacing Florian Maurice at OGC Nice.

And there is a former Nice sporting director in the running for the Marseille job. Julien Fournier, who has previously been at OM as General Secretary (2005-2009), dreams of a return to the club, according to a report from **L’Équipe. **

Fournier has held talks with Excel Sports, who have been mandated to find potential candidates for the sporting director role. Given that Excel Sports’ expertise lie in English and German football, there could also be candidates that emerge from those markets.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle