New Marseille owner Frank McCourt hopes to rival Paris Saint-Germain, but has told the BBC that trying to "outspend" the Ligue 1 champions "would be a mistake."
McCourt completed his €45 million purchase of Marseille in October and immediately vowed to plough €200m into the club over four years in a bid to return them to the summit of European football.
PSG, who were taken over by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) in 2011, have had hundreds of millions invested in the club since, winning the Ligue 1 title in each of the last four seasons while also regularly featuring in the Champions League quarterfinals.
"Of course we need to compete against them, but I'm not a sovereign wealth fund," McCourt said. "To compete solely with the cheque book against the Qataris would be a huge mistake.
"We need to be more resourceful. We need to outwork them, out-think them, outsmart them, because we're not going to be able to outspend them. But I think this is a very comfortable position for Marseille.
"Everyone likes a star, it's exciting, but more than that they want players that give it all, players that work hard and outwork the other team, and that have the character that the city has and that our fans have. This is really a critical component of players as we're looking at them."
McCourt, who previously owned the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, has seen his new club linked to high-profile players such as Atletico Madrid's Diego Godin, Inter Milan midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia and Athletic Bilbao winger Iker Muniain.
With the team currently in 11th place in Ligue 1, 18 points behind leaders Nice and 15 adrift of third for Champions League qualification, OM's demanding fans are hoping McCourt will open his cheque book during winter transfer window.
The Boston-born businessman, however, has suggested Marseille's supporters, who are notoriously short on patience, will have to keep a lid on their expectations for now.
"Yes, we're going to improve the team, but let's break it down a little bit," he said. "The winter window is not as good as the summer market, so it's a little bit more difficult to get the exact kind of players you want at the club. So we'll do the best we can, but we're already thinking about June."