Marseille names Giovanni Ciccolunghi president

Marseille's summer of flux continues with the club announcing the appointment of its new president Wednesday, naming Giovanni Ciccolunghi the successor to Vincent Labrune.

The former CEO of Adidas Russia, Ciccolunghi's relationship with the south coast side stems from a professional liaison with Marseille's former majority share holder, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, who was the CEO of Adidas-Salomon prior to his death in 2009.

"Giovanni, as an aide to Robert Louis-Dreyfus led as CEO successfully and brilliantly for Adidas in Russia for over 10 years. He is a member of the board of Louis Dreyfus Holding for five years," a statement from club owner and Robert's daughter, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, announced Wednesday.

"His international experience of people management and management of sport, especially sports marketing, will bring more efficiency and professionalism at the club."

Ciccolunghi will be assisted in his duties by Jean-Rene Angeloglou, Marseille's Chairman of the Supervisory Board, ahead of a bounce-back year for Olympique.

Former president Labrune announced his intention to step down from the position, with the club statement confirming his tenure will come to an end July 25.

Ciccolunghi takes control of a club that is light years away from the Ligue 1 title it won in 2009-10. A full-scale clearance has seen last season's 13th-placed side sell many of its top players.

Michy Batshuayi, Benjamin Mendy, Abdelaziz Barrada, Nicolas Nkoulou, and Steve Mandanda have all jumped, with €63.5 million made on those transfers, only €10 million of which has been spent on Remy Cabella, Tomas Hubocan, and Saif-Eddine Khaoui.