Marseille endured a turbulent campaign last season, namely with the drama surrounding Andre Villas-Boas's squabble with the club and subsequently having to finish the season under a new manager following Jorge Samapoli's emergency appointment. Nonetheless, L'OM ultimately turned their fortunes around to finish in fifth spot and thus secure a spot in the Europa League group stages.
To prepare for their battles on multiple fronts, Marseille have already started the task of making some key upgrades to their squad. And they've turned to La Liga for their latest acquisition. 19-year-old Konrad de la Fuente has now become a Marseille player after Barcelona agreed to sell him to the French side for €3 million.
De La Fuente also signed a four-year contract, but as per ESPN, Barcelona will also recoup 50 percent of any future transfer fee Marseille receive if they sell the USMNT starlet.
Many American fans had hoped to see De La Fuente make a name for himself at Barcelona, especially after the Miami-born player enjoyed a fair share of success wiht Barcelona B and thus was promoted to the first team during last season. However, he was only able to make a total of three appearances, and none were in La Liga.
And with the arrivals of Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay, De La Fuente was set to find playing time even more hard to come by in an already congested attacking line-up at Barcelona. As such, this move just may be the break he needs in order to eventually secure a main spot in the USMNT senior team.
