Returning to Olympique de Marseille in the fall of 2022, Jean-Pierre Papin has seen his prerogatives evolve. Although he had been appointed special advisor to President Longoria upon his arrival, the former striker was reappointed as head of the reserve. A development which would be the consequence of these recent criticisms leveled at the Olympian attackers, criticisms which were very poorly received by Gennaro Gattuso…
The appointment of JPP to the reserve bench is surprising. The 1991 Ballon d’Or had in fact explained in 2020 that daily work in a club was difficult to reconcile with the health of his disabled daughter. “It was complicated to combine the management of a football club with my association Neuf de cœur and my daughter Emily, he explained in the columns of Parisian, adding: “She continues to make progress even though she will be 30 years old. We know she will never be like the others. But Emily lives with us as 200% part of the family. »
Emily’s progress defies all the predictions that doctors had made in her young years. “One day, I was told in France that it would never work. Now she can run 10 km with me every day. We should not always believe what we are told. Emily, it’s the fight of a lifetime “, he said.
