Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 7y

Marseille's Rudi Garcia hoping owner Frank McCourt spends in January

Marseille coach Rudi Garcia has told RMC he hopes new owner Frank McCourt will dip into his vast fortune to fund a January spending spree.

Former LA Dodgers owner McCourt, whose net worth is estimated at $1.2 billion, completed his estimated €45 million purchase of Marseille in mid-October, and immediately pledged to spend €200m over the next four years to build a team he believes can be European champions.

Garcia was appointed just two days after McCourt's takeover, but has won just one of his four Ligue 1 games in charge, leaving OM languishing in the lower half of the table.

"It would be good to add one player per line," Garcia, whose side are 11th in the French top flight ahead of this weekend's game at Monaco, said.

"But I don't know what we'll do. It also depends on the market. We won't spend for spending's sake. That's not part of the board's strategy, nor mine. The winter window isn't easy, it's a window in which you try to repair things. We're working on it, we'll be opportunist."

On McCourt's promise to fund a squad makeover, Garcia added: "Logic dictates the biggest investments should be made in the first two years rather than the following two. The president has said that if an extra effort is required at the start to have a competitive team, he'll do it."

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