Habib Beye and Éric Chelle among candidates for Olympique Marseille coaching role

Shortly after the departure of head coach Roberto De Zerbi, the rumor mill is buzzing around who will take over the reins of French Ligue 1 club Olympique Marseille with Habib Beye and current Nigeria national team coach Éric Chelle on OM’s reported shortlist.

Official Statement from Olympique de Marseille

👉 https://t.co/0uqXFuPOah pic.twitter.com/v6DKdVPgP6

— Olympique de Marseille 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 (@OM_English) February 11, 2026

A premature elimination from the UEFA Champions League main phase was shortly followed by a devastating 0-5 defeat to Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain, leading to the club and De Zerbi parting ways by mutual consent. Les Dogues are now twelve points back of PSG in fourth place on the league table.

Marseille daily La Provence reports that Beye, who was let go over the past week by Stade Rennais, and Chelle are among the candidates to replace De Zerbi.

Both players have extensive ties to either the club or the southern France region. Chelle began his playing career in the region with FC Martigues, also coaching the club and beginning his career at Marseille Consolat in the French lower leagues. An opportunity to coach the region’s top club could be too tempting for the Super Eagles coach.

Beye has direct ties to OM. The former Senegal international defender made 167 appearances for the club over four seasons before joining English Premier League club Newcastle United. He previously led Paris club Red Star FC to a third-tier title before taking on the challenge at Rennes, where he was dismissed on February 9 after a string of poor results that included a Coupe de France exit to OM.

La Provence and Foot Mercado were among the first to report on the links to Beye. OM reserve team manager Romain Ferrier is also a candidate to at least guide the team on a temporary basis but there remains plenty to be resolved regarding a long-term candidate.

Marseille will next host Strasbourg on Saturday as they look to get back to winning ways.