Pablo Longoria reveals that Marseille wanted to retain Alexis Sánchez

Olympique de Marseille president Pablo Longoria has told RMC Sport that the club’s intention was to retain Alexis Sánchez (34) this season. The Chilean international ultimately departed on a free transfer, rejoining Inter Milan. 

Sánchez excelled in his one and only season at the Vélodrome. The former Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona forward joined OM on a free transfer in the summer of 2022. He went on to make 44 appearances for the club, scoring 18 times as Les Phocéens finished third in Ligue 1. 

Upon his arrival in Marseille, Sánchez only signed a one-year deal, however, given his form throughout the campaign, it was expected that he would be retained by the club. However, that was not the case with Sánchez rejoining former club Inter Milan. The lack of efficiency of his replacement, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has led to criticism regarding Sánchez’s departure. 

However, as Longoria told RMC Sport, it was not the intention of the club to let Sánchez leave. “We offered him a contract extension in May, but he held off and looked to make a bit of speculation,” said Longoria, who was pushed on whether Sánchez refused the contract extension: “He held off,” replied OM’s president. He added that the offer made to the Chilean international was higher than the contract offered to Aubameyang, but it was insufficient to get him to commit his future to the club. Since his return to the San Siro, Sánchez has played a peripheral role and is yet to score in Serie A. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle