Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 7y

Andoni Zubizarreta linked with Marseille sporting director job

Andoni Zubizarreta is the frontrunner to become Marseille sporting director as new owner Frank McCourt begins his overhaul of the Ligue 1 club, RTL has reported.

After the appointment of Rudi Garcia as coach on Thursday, McCourt is reportedly planning to bring former Barcelona and Spain goalkeeper Zubizarreta, 54, to the Stade Velodrome.

As Barca sporting director between July 2010 and January 2015, Zubizarreta oversaw a €400 million spending spree that brought players including Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Jordi Alba and Javier Mascherano to the Camp Nou.

But he was relieved of his duties after the failure of some of his new signings, such as Alex Song and Thomas Vermaelen.

Former Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini has also been linked with the Marseille post after working with Garcia at Roma for two-and-a-half years.

However, L'Equipe reported Sabatini as saying: "It's not because Rudi Garcia is going to coach OM that I'll go there to be sporting director.

"In any case, there has been no contact between OM and me."

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