Facundo Medina

Key strength: Adaptability

Versatile player

Sitting third in Ligue 1 after a resurgent LLWWW run, Olympique Marseille under Roberto De Zerbi are charging toward Champions League qualification—but one of their most expensive summer investments remains conspicuously absent from the story. Facundo Medina, the €20 million Argentine centre-back whose imposing physical presence and 70-rated defensive intelligence seemed tailor-made for De Zerbi's system, has featured for just 90 minutes this entire campaign. That solitary outing—yielding a yellow card but glimpses of aerial dominance and composed distribution—represents a staggeringly poor return on Marseille's hefty outlay. While the prolific attacking trident of Igor Paixão, Timothy Weah, and Amine Gouiri dominate headlines with their 80-rated brilliance, Medina's defensive anchor profile gathers dust on the bench. At 26, the Argentine is in his prime years, his 65 physicality and commanding aerial ability precisely what Marseille's occasionally vulnerable backline craves. With zero goals and zero assists from his single appearance, the statistics barely scratch the surface of his untapped potential. The question looming over Stade Vélodrome isn't whether Medina possesses the quality—it's why a club that invested €20m in his services continues to freeze out the very defensive solution their European ambitions demand.