Ligue 1: Benjamin Pavard joins Olympique de Marseille

Defender Benjamin Pavard, a 2018 world champion with the French national team, signed a contract with Olympique de Marseille in the final minutes of the transfer window, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions on Monday, September 1.

Pavard, 29, had been playing for Inter Milan for two years after spending four seasons at Bayern Munich. He has 55 caps for France, with whom he won the 2018 World Cup and was a finalist in the 2022 World Cup.

His arrival is a prestigious reinforcement for OM, who lost Adrien Rabiot, another French international, transferred this Monday to AC Milan .

Experienced and accustomed to the highest level, Pavard can play in central defense or on the right flank. After starting out at Lille, he played for Stuttgart, then Bayern Munich and Inter.

Beyond his world title with Les Bleus, his record is also very extensive at club level with four German championship titles and one Italian championship title, as well as a Champions League won in 2020 with Bayern.

In Marseille, he will come to strengthen a defense that has been suffering since the start of the season and which was already the weak point of Roberto De Zerbi's team last season.

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He is also an important reinforcement for the duo formed by the president, Pablo Longoria, and the director of football, Medhi Benatia, while the departure of Rabiot, another French international, is badly received by some Marseille supporters.

OM, beaten twice in the first three matches and only 10th in the standings, have been particularly active during this transfer window. Pavard is the tenth signing of the Marseille club, which also formalized the signing of Italian-Brazilian left-back Emerson Palmieri on Monday, while those of Nayef Aguerd and Matt O'Riley were confirmed to AFP by a source familiar with the discussions.