American businessman Frank H McCourt Jr. wants Marseille to challenge for the Ligue 1 title every year if his proposed takeover of the club succeeds.
McCourt, 63, was granted exclusivity in negotiations on Monday with a view to finalising a deal to take control of the 2010 French champions from current owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus.
The sale is expected to go through by the end of the year, and the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers team has high hopes for Marseille.
"I want a team that targets the title every year -- that's my No. 1 ambition," McCourt told L'Equipe.
"After that I want to create the best experience possible for an OM supporter -- the best atmosphere in the whole league.
"It's a long-term commitment from my family and I. I'm the sole shareholder of the family business.
"I would like, one day, for my children to take over the club... I'm not an investment fund that buys and resells.
"It's a personal and total commitment. I like sport -- I like winning."
McCourt first got a taste of what the atmosphere at the Stade Velodrome was like when he attended France's Euro 2016 match against Albania in June.
The Boston native said he had been exploring the idea of buying a football team for some time.
"I became interested in a project to takeover a European club in 2014," McCourt said.
"People spoke to me about OM and things accelerated over the past three months.
"Football is becoming the most exposed sport internationally -- you see it through the World Cup and the Premier League, which created a fantastic business model.
"I think that the future of French football can also be brilliant. I'm very optimistic about that."
Meanwhile Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas welcomed the move, suggesting that it showed there was plenty of room for growth in French football.
"I think that the fact that Americans are investing in France is a good thing," he told SFR Sport.
"It shows that the taboo that French clubs would not be credible over time is in the process of being killed off."