Some OM supporters have dreamed of selling the club to Saudi Arabia for several years. However, it is another Ligue 1 team which is well on its way to being bought by the Saudis…
Saudi Arabia should soon arrive in Ligue 1, but it is not OM who will change dimension! As Jérôme Rothen, former player of the Rocher club, said a few weeks ago, owner Dmitri Rybolovlev is in negotiations to sell the club to Saudi Arabia (or Saudi investors, it is not very clear ). An amount of 500 million was mentioned, while the Russian oligarch had acquired ASM for 200 million in 2011.
Asked about this Wednesday evening in theAfter FootDaniel Riolo clarified the comments of his friend from RMC, explaining that the negotiations were “very advanced with the Saudis”but that the deal was not yet finalized because Rybolovlev wishes to retain shares and the Principality of Monaco, which holds 33.33% of the capital, does not want “sell everything” (Prince Albert II of Monaco wishes to have a certain weight among the residents of Louis-II).
Is it over for OM?
For OM, at least for some Marseille supporters, this is not good news. We don’t yet know who is behind it. “the Saudis” mentioned by Rothen and Riolo, but if it is the PIF, the powerful investment fund of Saudi Arabia (which bought Newcastle, but not Manchester United), there is little chance of seeing the Marseille club be bought by the same entity (or another organization linked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman).
Independent journalist Thibaud Vézirian has been saying since 2021 that OM will be sold by Frank McCourt to Saudi Arabia. Since then, if Pablo Longoria has made sure to reorganize the Marseille club to make it a good investment, nothing has come. The Boston businessman seems ready to wait a while longer (he would even ask for… 500 million euros). The other sales announcements from OM are not more reliable.
