Benatia reveals heated meeting with McCourt that changed everything at OM

Medhi Benatia has opened the lid on events at Olympique de Marseille in an interview with France Football. The former sporting director reveals that a meeting held in a Kuwait hotel before the Trophée des champions against PSG (8 January 2026, 2-2 draw, 1-4 loss on penalties) became a breaking point in his spell at the club.

At that encounter with Frank McCourt and Pablo Longoria, Benatia asked whether they could strengthen if they had to sell players, as the team was targeting more than a podium finish. That's when the American owner reacted unusually, telling him for the first time: "But don't you see the situation?", raising his voice, according to the director's account.

Benatia insists that from that moment he understood they would need to offload assets and that he felt sidelined by De Zerbi. He was also hurt by Longoria: "I felt betrayed". Refusing to sell his silence, Benatia concludes: "What I have to say costs too much, the truth is priceless".