Marseille to sign former Manchester United director Javier Ribalta as sporting director | OneFootball

As reported by , Marseille are set to appoint former Manchester United and Parma director Javier Ribalta as the club’s new director of football.

The 41-year-old Ribalta knows OM president Pablo Longoria well after a spell at Juventus together and, as Romano points out, the Spaniard was the man to sign Bruno Fernandes, now of Manchester United, for €40k for Italian side Novara a decade ago, where he was chief scout. However, his record as a director has been chequered of late, after little success with United and Parma.

Longoria, despite being promoted from sporting director to president, has continued to lead on Marseille’s transfer business, negotiating with players and identifying targets, and it’s likely this will largely continue. Having spent only a season as a director in Manchester and Parma, Ribalta’s CV also includes three years as Zenit sporting director between those jobs and five seasons as Juventus’ chief scout between 2012 and 2017.

La Provence