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Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille Owner Frank McCourt said that the club has to be "creative" in the transfer market because he "cannot compete financially" with Paris St. Germain's owners, according to Ian Holyman of ESPN.com. Ahead of the new season, PSG bought Neymar for €200M. Marseille's marquee signing was Kostas Mitroglou, picked up from Portuguese side Benfica for €15M. Despite the "gulf in financial muscle," Marseille held PSG 2-2 on Sunday. McCourt: "OM today is better than that of a year ago. The gap is closing and that will continue because we're going to continue our work. We need to be creative, to work hard, because I don't have Qatar's checkbook." With funds limited in the summer, "another loan deal was orchestrated" for La Liga club Valencia defender Aymen Abdennour, while France int'l Adil Rami was signed along with Brazil midfielder Luiz Gustavo. McCourt added, "The transfer market is very difficult, everyone sees that. The economy is completely crazy, but the recruiting team has done a very good job in selecting the players that will take OM to the next step. It's like climbing a mountain: you start at the bottom, climb a little, you stop, take in the view and it's different to the one you had at the bottom" (
ESPN.com, 10/25).
