Olympique Marseille is one of the greatest clubs in the French football. Despite its achievement in the past ten years is not as great compared to Lyon or PSG; Marseille once considered the world's best team that dominated the European football in the early 90s. At that time, the club was coached by Franz Beckenbauer and had a team consist of the world's best players.
In this article, I present a list of 15 best players ever to play for Olympique Marseille. The players in this list have achieved a lot of individual as well as team achievements, some of them were even nominated as the best footballers in the history. Without further ado, here is the list:
15. Samir Nasri
Before moving to the Premier League and playing for Arsenal and Manchester City, Samir Nasri started his career at Marseille. The attacking midfielder is a product of Marseille Youth Academy and made his debut as a professional footballer in 2004. Since his debut season, Nasri has shown a charming performance so that he was targeted by many big clubs. During four years playing for Marseille, he won an Intertoto Cup and was selected as the UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year 2006-07.
14. Tony Cascarino
Tony Cascarino is a retired Irish striker who played for Marseille in the 1994-1997 period. Cascarino was a mainstay striker of Olympique Marseille when the club was relegated to Ligue 2. Due to the high goal scoring instincts and great performances, Cascarino earned the nickname "Tony Goal" from the club's fans. The only trophy he won for Marseille is a Ligue 2 championship title in the 1994-95 season.
13. Franck Ribéry
Ribery is regarded as a player who could replace the role of legendary French midfielder, Zinedine Zidane. Ribery is famous to have high techniques, good dribbling skills, and capable of playing as a solid playmaker. Prior to joining Bayern Munich and won dozens of prestigious trophies, Ribery played for Marseille for two years, from 2005 to 2007. During this period, he won an Intertoto Cup and was named the French Player of the Year in 2007.
12. Didier Drogba
Drogba is a footballer from Ivory Coast who is regarded as the Chelsea's best striker of all time. The quality of Drogba has been seen even before he played for Chelsea, exactly when he joined Marseille in the 2003-2004 period. During his one-year period at Marseille, he managed to become the top scorer and best player of Ligue 1 inthe same season. His great performance at the club made him was signed by Chelsea in the next season for a fee of 24 million pounds.
11. Mamadou Niang
Mamadou Niang is a Senegalese striker who became a mainstay of Marseille in the 2005-2010 period. He was signed from Strasbourg to fill the role of a main striker after Drogba moved to Chelsea. Niang's best performances occurred in the 2009-2010 season, where he helped Marseille win the Ligue 1 and became the top scorer of the competition. Throughout his career at Marseille, Niang scored 100 goals from 227 appearances.
10. Chris Waddle
Chris Waddle is a former England midfielder who became a part of the golden generation of Marseille in the early 90s. Waddle was signed from Tottenham Hotspur in 1989 for a fee of 4.5 million pounds; a considerably high transfer value at that time. He gave significant contribution to Marseille, where he helped the club win three Ligue 1 titles. Not only that, Waddle was selected as the second best Marseille player of all time in a poll conducted by the club's fans in 1998.
9. Alen Boksic
Just like Drogba, Boksic played for Marseille only for a season, but he managed to become a legend at this club because of his outstanding performance. Boksic is Croatian striker. He played for Marseille in the 1992-93 season and managed to become the top scorer of Ligue 1 and at the same time presented a Champions League trophy. He moved to Lazio in 1994 after Marseille was relegated to Ligue 2 due to financial crisis.
8. Fabian Barthez
Fabian Barthez was the French national team first-choice goalkeeper when the country won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. Unfortunately, in the period Barthez was no longer a Marseille player. He played for Olympique Marseille in the periods 1992-1995 and 2004-2006. His best achievement occurred in 1993 when the club won the Champions League. At that time, Barthez set a record as the youngest goalkeeper ever to win the tournament.
7. Manuel Amoros
Manuel Amoros is a former French right-back of Spanish descent. His achievements at the national team level and club level were great. Together with Michel Platini, he led France national team win the Euro 1984. Not only that, at Marseille he won four Ligue 1 titles, one French Cup trophy and one Champions League. Amoros ended his career as a professional footballer at Marseille in 1996.
6. Steve Mandanda
Mandada debuted for Marseille in 2008 and he currently serves as the team captain. At first, Mandanda was signed as a backup of the main goalkeeper, Cedric Carrass. However, he got a lot of playing time because Carrasso was injured for quite a long time. Mandanda's solid performances at Marseille made him regarded as one of Europe's best goalkeeper at the moment. In addition to presenting a French League trophy, Mandanda was also twice selected as the Best Goalkeeper of Ligue 1.
5. Marius Trésor
Tresor is one of the most loyal players who have ever played for Marseille. He joined the club for eight years, from 1972 to 1980. During his period at Marseille, Tresor showed very good performances. He was fast, tough, and had very good marking ability. Not surprisingly, he was also always be the first choice in France national team. The only trophy that he won at Marseille is a French Cup in 1976.
4. Gunnar Andersson
With 194 goals that he scored, Gunnar Andersson is the record holder of Marseille's top scorer of all time, ahead of some great strikers such as Jean-Pierre Papin and Josip Skoblar. The Swedish striker played for Marseille in the 1950-1958 period and became a two-time top scorer of Ligue 1. Although he showed good individual performances, Andersson did not win any trophies at Marseille.
3. Josip Skoblar
Skoblar is Yugoslavian striker who played for Marseille in the 1969-1975 period. Throughout his career at Marseille, Skoblar became a top scorer of Ligue 1 in three different seasons. Not only that, he even recorded an achievement that has not been broken when he scored 44 goals in a single season in Ligue 1 in 1971. During his period at Marseille, Skoblar won two Ligue 1 titles and one French Cup trophy.
2. Abedi Pele
Abedi Pele is a retired Ghanaian attacking midfielder who is well-known for his stunning techniques and physical power. He was given the nickname "Pele" because many people said that he was as good as Pele, an enduring legend in the world of football. This player played for Marseille for five years. He became one of the first African footballers who is able to achieve success playing in European league. Throughout his career at Marseille, he won three Ligue 1 titles and one Champions League trophy.
1. Jean-Pierre Papin
Considering his great quality as a striker and his productivity in scoring goals, it seems Papin is the most suitable figure to be crowned as Marseille's best player of all-time. During his time at Marseille in the 1986-1992 period, the French striker managed to be the top scorer of Ligue 1 for five times. Not only that, Papin was even awarded the Ballon d'Or award in 1991. At Marseille, he won four Ligue 1 title and a Coupe de France trophy. He is also famous for his great finishing ability as well as scored a lot of goals from his trademark volley kicks.
