With hindsight, the situation gives rise to a smile. For OM’s first outing, at the beginning of August against Reims, new coach Igor Tudor had been widely shouted down by an exasperated Vélodrome. The Croatian had dared to put Dimitri Payet on the bench. Dtwo months later, no one is offended by this crime of lèse-majesté. The captain was supplanted by the ghost Amine Harit, who should start in Paris, Sunday October 16, at 8:45 p.m.
Within a few hours, the idyll could have remained fictitious. Last September, the Moroccan waited for the last hours of the transfer window to return to La Canebière. “I had offers, but I took the risk of waiting”said during his presentation the player loaned to OM for the second year in a row by Schalke 04. His first Marseille exercise had been disjointed (4 goals, 4 assists), despite a dashing spring. The beginning of his second adventure is dazzling.
If OM got back in the saddle in the Champions League, they owe it in large part to their 25-year-old playmaker. Scorer and assist in the first leg against Sporting Portugal, Harit was involved in both goals on the return trip to Lisbon on Wednesday. “He was amazing”, praised Igor Tudor at the end of this match. This double high-flying performance gave the Moroccan the status of a key player in the Marseille eleven.
And for good reason, his profile as a blaster not stingy in efforts fits perfectly with the Croat’s tactical scheme. Sometimes associated with Cengiz Ünder or Mattéo Guendouzi in support of the striker, Harit paces the game, strikes, punctures and has great offensive freedom. “The game we play is perfect for himgreeted Igor Tudor on Wednesday evening. He can attack the spaces but also play between the lines.” Coincidence or coincidence, OM have never lost this season when they started.
“I like asking for balls in the feet or throwing myself into an open space, and my role allows me to do both at the same time”
This redemption is also reflected in a return to the Moroccan selection. Often shunned by Vahid Halilhodzic, Harit took advantage of his good end to last season to find the Atlas Lions. Called in June, by “coach Vahid”, he also appears in the papers of the new coach Walid Regragui, who called him up for the September matches. The attacking midfielder with a contrasting history in selection – 15 caps in 5 years – had not chained two rallies since 2019.
The World now in the viewfinder, Amine Harit could see his career take off if he maintains his form. “I think that with work I can still improve some details”even admitted the person concerned, who estimated himself to be “60%” of his abilities in an interview with the LFP. However, the case is not heard, as the playmaker has been constant in the intermittance since his first steps in Nantes, in 2016.
His smile proudly displayed, this player described by his president Pablo Longoria as “important for the locker room” gradually gets rid of its terrible child image. His promising start with the Canaries, followed by a transfer to a Schalke then in full swing, was for a long time without a future. Harit was an actor, despite himself, in the deliquescence of the Ruhr club, relegated to Bundesliga 2 in 2021. Taunted by his coach Damiano Tedesco on a “professionalism” to work, Harit then agitates the German press with his nocturnal outings, especially in shisha bars in the middle of Covid.
The player was also convicted of manslaughter in 2018. While driving his car in Marrakech, he ran over a passerby who died in hospital from his injuries. This drama, for which Harit received a four-month suspended prison sentence, weighed on his performance for a long time. From now on “responsible and very mature”as he confided when he arrived in Marseille last year, the Moroccan wants “pass a course” and show off “more decisive”. Dominant in C1 but silent this season in the league, it will go through a big performance against Paris.