Marseille ‘dreaming’ of signing Ronaldo and Zidane, admits prospective owner

Prospective Marseille investor Mohamed Ayachi Ajroudi has admitted that he “dreams” of one day seeing Zinedine Zidane in the OM dugout and Cristiano Ronaldo wearing the club’s famous white shirt.

A consortium led by Mourad Boudjellal is hoping to buy the club from its American owners this summer and reinstate the Stade Velodrome outfit as one of the country’s foremost clubs on a consistent basis.

Although OM finished second in Ligue 1 this term, they were 12 points distant of Paris Saint-Germain and in order to close the gap, they are ready to be ambitious, hoping to draw some of the biggest names in the world game to the club.

One of those is local lad Zinedine Zidane, who was famously born in the city and went on to become one of the most talented players of his generation then a three-time Champions League-winning coach with Real Madrid.

But while Boudjellal would love to see Zidane return home, he admits that it may be some time away.

"A new coach? The one in place is very good,” he told Le Figaro, “but what would be better than bringing back a local lad? Zinedine Zidane? The future will tell us.”

On the playing front, meanwhile, there is one outstanding candidate – another legend of the Bernabeu.

“I love football. I love the noble side of sport. I love German discipline, especially that of Bayern Munich. I enjoy the grinta of Barca. And a player that I will never forget is Cristiano Ronaldo. I like respect and discipline. He embodies that,” he said of the current Juventus star, who turned 35 in February but continues to go strong in terms of his contribution. 

“Do I dream of signing him for Marseille? Everything is possible in life. He is generous and gives a lot. It makes me vibrate. It would be a dream to have him in Marseille… But that is the task of [potential future club president] Mourad Boudjellal.”

Marseille discovered on Thursday that they will open their Ligue 1 campaign for the 2020-21 season up with a clash against Saint-Etienne, with PSG, Lille and Lyon all to follow in what promises to be a very testing start to the term.