Opinion
Pablo Longoria just turned 35 in June, yet he is already the president of one of Europe’s most popular clubs, Olympique de Marseille.
Scout at 21, sporting director at 32, the Spaniard never hid his ambition to one day be the man in charge. In February this year, his dream became reality when he was named president of the only French club to ever win the Champions League.
When he joined the club from south of France at the end July 2020 Longoria already had a long and solid resume. Between his first gig as a scout in Newcastle in 2007 and his sporting director role at Valencia in 2018-19 he had been employed as a scout for three years at Atalanta and as a director of recruitment for Recreativo Huelva, Sassuolo and, more importantly, Juventus, between 2015 and 2018.
He has the reputation of a workaholic, enamoured with data and statistics, and was known for watching seven to eight football games every day during his recruiting years. Credited with bringing Florent Sinama Pongolle to Huelva and Rodrigo Bentancur to Juventus, his name circulated again in Newcastle in 2020 during the aborted Saudi takeover before he ended up in Marseille a few months later.
Upon his arrival at the Stade Velodrome he justified his choice simply while making sure to flatter the very demanding local crowd.
“Football is inconceivable without passion. My last choices were based on passion and the history of the clubs I worked for,” he said.
“I am proud to have this great opportunity to put my skills at the service of one of the most historic clubs in European and French football.”
Communication, since his start at OM, has been his forte. He compared OM to Boca Juniors or Napoli, explained the goal was to be “in the European top 20, year after year”, and he backed his communication with good signings.
(Photo by Jonathan Bartolozzi/Olympique de Marseille via Getty Images)
The network of a successful scout
After Michael Cuisance from Bayern Munich, and young Brazilian prospect Luis Henrique in a somewhat successful 2020 market, he made himself discreet, working on the next transfer window.
In January 2021, in the middle of a club crisis that ended in riots at the practice fields and coach Andre Villas-Boas resigning, Pablo Longoria succeeded where his two predecessors failed: luring a star striker to the Velodrome. Prolific Polish centre forward Arkadiusz Milik arrived from Napoli, where he had not played since the beginning of the season, and made an immediate impact, with nine goals in 15 games.
Longoria also brought in a relatively unknown young prospect, Pol Lirola, who finished the season a fan favourite. In two windows the sporting director had confirmed his reputation and showed why he was so highly regarded in the scouting world.
A month later controversial OM president Jacques-Henri Eyraud was removed from his seat by owner Frank McCourt to appease the fans. To everyone’s surprise, 34-year-old Pablo Longoria was promoted to a position he had never held before. He becomes the youngest Marseille president since 1909.
His first interview as president echoed his arrival nine months earlier: “The history and the culture in this club are truly unique. Football is inconceivable without passion”.
In the same announcement, Frank McCourt announced the arrival of the new coach, chosen by Pablo Longoria: Jorge Sampaoli, the charismatic and colourful coach former coach of Sevilla, Chile, with whom he won La Copa America in 2015, and Argentina.
Longoria, already on a pedestal, became the symbol of a new, dynamic and clever Marseille.
A master of communication
He has decided to make an entrance. In a long interview in El Pais he compares France to the NBA of European football. It is not a flattering comparison.
“There is something fundamental that must be understood: training in France is comparable to training of basketball players in the United States,” he said. “It is football that is still played in the streets, it is an individual rather than collective training.
“France in matters of football is the NBA of Europe.”
The interview makes front-page news. French coaches and academies feel insulted by this Spaniard freshly arrived and trying to lecture them. Days later, OM and Strasbourg draw at the Velodrome, and Thierry Laurey, the visitors’ coach, throws a punch: “Not bad for a French coach”.
The rest of his interviews are a compilation of great football insights. When Longoria explains why he picked Jorge Sampaoli as head coach, it just makes sense: “The decision was made for two reasons: emotionally first, Sampaoli is perfect for the atmosphere of this city, this club, he represents best the historical values of this club. And of course, in second, the football he offers, which is what demands the fans here”.
He went on to summarise the second point: “High press, aggressivity as soon as the ball is lost, focus on ball possession, and on being a team that can defend high up the pitch at any time … This is what the supporters here want.
“Marseille is a city full of passion, so you have to have a game plan that reflects that passion. Only three cities are like that in the world: Naples, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.”
He treats the fans in the right way, joins acts to his words by picking a very offensive coach and is happy to explain his sporting choices, something not a lot of presidents are able to.
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
A factor of change
Longoria has been restless since arriving at OM. If all eyes are on the names he brings to coach and play at the Velodrome, he works as hard backstage. In a matter of months, he reshaped the recruiting department – after thanking some former employees, he added strength after strength to his team.
David Friio, a former Manchester United scout, joins as head scout and is promoted to director of football when Longoria becomes president. The next head scout to work under Friio is another Manchester United recruiter, Mathieu Louis-Jean. Louis-Jean heads a team of three main scouts: Mathieu Seckinger (from Man U), Benjamin Brat (from Nancy) and Sergio Santome (a 30-year-old former journalist recruited by Longoria already in Valence).
Again the results follow. Marseille is particularly active early in this transfer window, and the signings are full of promise.
The aim was made clear in May: Longoria and Sampaoli want nine players to sign in the off-season. A month away from the first game of the 2021-22 (8 August, OM visit Montpellier), the club has already enrolled six new players and are linked with plenty more.
Gerson, nominated for best player in the Brazilian league two years in a row, is the first recruit announced at OM, for just under €30 million (A$47.8 million). He was followed by Konrad de la Fuente, the American prospect from La Masia; Leonardo Balerdi, who was loaned by Dortmund last season; Cengiz Under and goalkeeper Pau Lopez from AS Roma; and Matteo Guendouzi, the young Frenchman from Arsenal.
Longoria and his team seem to be working on another 12 players: Arsenal’s William Saliba, Fiorentina’s Giovanni Simeone, Sassuolo’s Jeremie Boga, Santos’ Luan Peres, Velez Sarsfield’s Thiago Almada and Toulouse’s Amine Adli are all rumoured to join.
And now, the results?
Since McCourt’s takeover at the club and his ‘champions project’ – the American promised OM would be able to win the Champions League again under his lead – the team has finished fourth, fifth, second the year of the pandemic and fifth again this year amid a chaotic season. They found themselves qualified for the Champions League only once, this past season, and could get only a win out of six fixtures.
Longoria’s god-like aura at the club, with the supporters and with the staff, will only be sustained through results. Marseille’s euphoria and excitement around the football team are matched only by how quickly they end up in a crisis after three bad results. The promises shown at the end of 2020-21, the arrival of Sampaoli and the army of players he is getting this month, need to translate into results and a real possibility of fighting for a title again.
The legacy of Pablo Longoria at OM is yet to be written, and he will only match his own ambition when the club will be able to compete against the archrival Paris Saint-Germain.
Is this the season for Sampaoli and his troops? It’s hard to tell, especially when in the meantime the club of the capital is not sleeping either: Wijnaldum, Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos – the Qatari-backed team is more than ready to finally conquer the only title OM won and they haven’t: the Champions League.
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