“I learnt about the sale of Lucas Mendes at the last minute, as he was leaving for Qatar. I learnt about the purchase of Doria on Monday afternoon when he was arriving for his medical. I was against his arrival. I wasn’t able to analyse him. I wasn’t able to give my opinion. The president [Vincent Labrune] had also promised that we wouldn’t sign foreign players, because OM doesn’t have the structure necessary to evaluate the qualities of a player who doesn’t play in France! No players arrived at my behest. I proposed 12 options and none of them came off. We had to recruit with urgency, even though we wanted either [Benjamin] Stambouli or [Toby] Alderweireld.”

– Marcelo Bielsa on Marseille’s summer recruitment strategy