Rudy Matondo, Paris FC’s costly bet on the future who has everything | OneFootball

Rudy Matondo, 17, has joined Paris FC for €17.5m, underlining the club’s bet on high-potential youth. His arrival follows his Ligue 1 debut for Auxerre in April 2025.

According to L'Équipe, the deal includes €2.5m in bonuses and 12.5 percent of any resale profit for Auxerre. Born in Grigny near Orly, it also marks a return home. He entered an academy only two and a half years ago.

Auxerre gave him a first-team debut in April 2025 at 17, then a first professional contract that summer. Sporting director David Wantier calls him mature, mentally strong and attentive.

This season he featured 16 times across the first 20 Ligue 1 matchdays, starting six. Auxerre had instead planned to sell Kevin Danois, 21, in summer, but Matondo’s terms proved irresistible.

Paris FC, backed by wealthy investors and Red Bull’s development know-how, had tracked him for a long time. Coach Stéphane Gilli says he is powerful, comfortable under pressure, drives forward and wins the ball back.

The fee is Auxerre’s second-biggest sale, behind Djibril Cissé’s €20m move to Liverpool in 2004. Fees for teenagers are rising, as shown by Honest Ahanor’s €17m switch to Atalanta and Dro Fernandez’s €8m move to PSG.

A France U18 international, Matondo’s deal runs only to 2028 because minors cannot sign for longer than three years. He trained on Tuesday and could feature at Lorient in the Coupe de France on Wednesday at Le Moustoir, 20:30.

Source: L'Équipe