Read all about it: Marseille finally wake the hell up and sign some delicious defending

By: Sam | June 21st, 2007

Weeks of laborious persuading and bartering have paid off for Olympique de Marseille, as they announced the imminent arrivals of three very respectful players, those being Benoît Cheyrou, Gaël Givet, and Laurent Bonnart.

weeks after signing upstarts Jacques Faty and Vincent Gragnic, the big trio (Pape Diouf, José Anigo, Albert Emon) lured the newest trio to the big city, and incidently, to the Champions League. Here’s what these three young men look like.

Benoît Cheyrou, the first addition to the crew, was officialized yesterday as the defensive midfielder the phocéens have been looking for to form a force to be reckoned with alongside Lorik Cana in the middle. He has signed a contract for four years with OM, the amount of money heading the other way is unclear, but it’s universally known that Auxerre totally want Toifilou Maoulida, and at this point it certainly looks like he’ll be reunited with former OM coach Jean Fernandez for next season. If the money is anywhere near reasonable, this is a great deal for Marseille, who will use Cheyrou to his full potential next year in the Champions League.

Gaël Givet, the centerback who’ll be starting with Julien Rodriguez, is a France international and actually worked magic with the same guy in the final of the Champions League back in 2003, where they reached the final. He was on the squad in the World Cup, and is recognized for his excellent vision and tackling. He’s a very, very good addition in terms of skill and leadership, as he was captain of AS Monaco ever since Rodriguez left a few years ago. He also signed a four-year contract.

Laurent Bonnart, a full-back who has played for Le Mans through the good times and the bad for the last nine years is also heading to the Vélodrome. Not as expected as the others, he nevertheless signed a three-year contract. Now, this one I’m not so sure about. Sure, Bonnart is a decent player, but Taiwo and Beye are much better for sure, I don’t think a player of his caliber is absolutely neccessary, but then again the Champions League will demand more than Gary Bocaly if something happens to one of those two.

Now, Sablé, Ziani and Cissé, especially the two first ones, should be cleared and signed in the next few days, as both midfielders expressed their excitement and total accord to make the move to Marseille.

What’s your call?