Marseille extend Bilal Nadir’s contract despite long-term injury

Bilal Nadir (20) has extended his contract with Olympique de Marseille until 2026.

The Moroccan youth international made his breakthrough from the Marseille academy into the first team this season and was beginning to be relied upon with a touch more frequency by then-manager Gennaro Gattuso before suffering from an ACL tear during his third-ever start for the club.

Nadir has been ruled out for the rest of the season while he recovers from the injury, and will likely be unavailable during the club’s preseason plans. This is clearly not an ideal position for either player or team, especially when a new manager will likely be coming in during this time. However, it has not prevented Marseille from acting preemptively to secure the future of their young talent. Especially when his contract was due to expire at the end of the season.

The young midfielder speaking to the club expressed his gratitude at the decision, “I’m relieved and very happy to be able to continue my adventure with Olympique de Marseille. My contract was about to expire and I was in a difficult position. It’s a great sign of confidence that the club has shown in me by extending my contract, and I’d like to thank the directors.”

Nadir continued by providing an update on his injury, “The news of my injury was complicated. I had to digest it. I quickly put myself in a bubble and I’m lucky enough to be very well surrounded within the team. I knew it was going to be a long-term injury. I had an operation a few weeks ago and today things are progressing very slowly.”