Ligue 1 Has spent €84.8m in just nine months

In just nine months Andoni Zubizarreta has laid the foundations for an ambitious project with Olympique Marseille as they look to return to the top of French football.

The former Spanish international footballer, who is now sporting director at the Ligue 1 side, has already splashed 84.8 million euros on new signings since taking the role in October of 2016.

"My job is to develop the project," Zubizarreta said.

"It is to integrate all of us into the club and align everybody to the same goal."

Frank McCourt's decision to buy the club has changed the course and is sending the former Champions League winners back to being one of France's most feared sides.

"I arrive at the best club in France," McCourt said after his arrival.

His first actions were to appoint Zubizarreta and hire Rudi Garcia as coach, giving them 200m euros to use on signing new players and the on-field improvements were immediate.

"Zubizarreta is a fundamental pillar in our approach to the market," president Jacques-Henri Eyraud said.

"He has been exceptional in all of our discussions and was decisive in our signing of [Patrice] Evra.

"Without him, we would not have achieved it."

Marseille's spending began in the winter market with the arrival of Evra and Dimitri Payet from West Ham United being the standout deals, and it has continued this summer with Steve Mandanda, Florian Thauvin, Adil Rami, Luiz Gustavo, Valere Germain and Clinton N'Jie all arriving for a combined total of 45m euros.

During this process, Marseille sit behind just Paris Saint-Germain as Ligue 1's biggest spenders, and have parted with more cash than Lille, Monaco and Lyon.

Without a title since 2012, and not appearing in the Champions League since 2013/14, OM are desperate to return to their success of the past and, with Zubizarreta on board, they will fancy their chances.