FEATURE | Winners and losers of Ligue 1’s transfer window | OneFootball

With the transfer window slamming shut in Ligue 1 on Monday, Get French Football News looks at the winners and losers in France’s top-flight.

Ligue 1’s winners

PSG

Whilst Paris Saint-Germain weren’t overly active, their arrivals do bolster the quality of the squad and prepare the club for the future. Lucas Chevalier arrives highly rated and is the expected heir to Mike Maignan’s No.1 jersey at international level. His distribution and footwork are an improvement on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s. Les Parisiens are essentially banking on the Italian’s past six months having been something of an anomaly. Should Chevalier quickly settle, Donnarumma will be quickly forgotten. Illia Zabarnyi also looks like a good pick to be Marquinhos’ long-term successor at centre-back. The Brazilian could leave at the end of the season.

It has also been an important window in terms of outgoings and shifting lots of deadwood. Nordi Mukiele, Marco Asensio, Carlos Soler, Milan Skriniar, and Arnau Tenas have all left on permanent deals. Randal Kolo Muani, Gabriel Moscardo, and Renato Sanches have all departed on loan. Their cases will have to be revisited in a year’s time, but this is – overall – a positive window for PSG.

Monaco

Granted, AS Monaco have made some bets in this transfer window. Paul Pogba won’t have played for over two years by the time that he makes his return, whilst Ansu Fati has failed to shine in recent issues, largely due to recurring injury issues. It remains to be seen whether he can display the same form that had him earmarked as the successor to Lionel Messi’s throne when he broke through at Barcelona. But there are some more surefire bets in there. Eric Dier has come in and immediately settled, bringing experience and a sense of calm to the defence. Lukas Hradecky should also prove on upgrade on Monaco’s goalkeeping options, although he looks set for a period out due to injury.

There have been departures, and some good players have left. Eliesse Ben Seghir, Wilfried Singo, and Breel Embolo in particular have been important players for the Principality club. However, the best business of all has potentially been keeping Maghnes Akliouche at the club. Outside of PSG, he now shines brightest as the top talent in Ligue 1, and he could prove key in driving Monaco towards their objectives.

Marseille

There is never a dull moment at Olympique de Marseille. It has been a hectic summer at the Commanderie. There have been plenty of exits. Luis Henrique, Jonathan Rowe, Quentin Merlin, Azzedine Ounahi, Valentin Rongier, Pau Lopez, Ismael Koné, and Adrien Rabiot have all left. Ideally, OM would have preferred to keep the latter, so crucial to last season’s success, however, a dressing room bust-up with Rowe put paid to his career at the Vélodrome. Other than Henrique and Rabiot (and arguably Rongier, too), the rest were expendable and Marseille have replaced them well.

The list of incomings is even larger. Igor Paixao, Nayef Aguerd, Arthur Vermeeren, Benjamin Pavard, Facundo Medina, Matt O’Riley, Timothy Weah, Emerson, Angel Gomes, CJ Egan-Riley, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Hamed Traoré.

Aubameyang, after one year away in Saudi Arabia, has picked up right where he left off and has already netted twice in the first three games. The major improvement, however, is at the back. Defence was a problem under Roberto De Zerbi last season, however, the Italian manager has no excuses this time around. He now has the personnel, and it is up to him to make it fit and functional. The window has also added plenty of depth, which will be necessary, given OM’s European commitments this time around.

Strasbourg

Not counting players who spent time on loan at RC Strasbourg Alsace last season, the club have added an incredible 14 new faces to their squad. It is no surprise that, in fitting with BlueCo’s youth-centric strategy, the recruits are almost exclusively 22 and under. Ben Chilwell, a signing on transfer deadline day, is the only major exception to that rule. He is by far the most experienced player in an incredibly youthful squad. Julio Enciso, Joaquín Panichelli, Lucas Hogsberg, Mathis Amougou, Soumaila Coulibaly, Pape Demba Diop, Ishé Samuels-Smith (who joined and swiftly departed back to Chelsea), Martial Godo, Maxi Odeyele, Stefan Bajic, Mike Penders, Kendry Paez and Rafael Luís have all arrived. Andrew Omobamidele, Valentín Barco, and Samuel Amo-Ameyaw have completed permanent moves, and Mamadou Sarr has re-joined on loan from Chelsea.

Liam Rosenior has been happy with Strasbourg’s business. “I said at the start of the summer, that we’d have a stronger squad. With one day left (in the window), I think we are there,” said the Englishman. However, Dilane Bakwa left on deadline day, adding to the departures of Habib Diarra, most notably. Plenty of fringe players have also left. Bakwa and Diarra leaving are big blows. Perhaps the starting XI now possesses less quality, but crucially, there is now depth in a squad that will be fighting on multiple fronts this season.

Ligue 1’s losers

Nice

Speaking to L’Équipe, OGC Nice’s sporting director, Florian Maurice, described the club’s transfer window as “unpleasant”. It was certainly that. Ransford Konigsdorffer, for example, was sought after, however, his move from Hamburg fell through after the centre-forward failed his medical. There is also the case of Mahdi Camara, who had agreed to join Nice, whilst an agreement with his club, Stade Brestois, had also been found. However, at the 11th hour, Stade Rennais swooped in, offering terms that Nice could not match.

The club also made attempts to sign AJ Auxerre’s Lassine Sinayoko. However, unhappy with Le Gym’s handling of the deal, Auxerre stopped talks. Beyond those failures, there are also the departures of the two most talented players from last season’s squad: Evann Guessand and Marcin Bulka. With limited financial means, budget replacements have been sought.

Isak Jansson, Yehvann Diouf, Charles Vanhoutte, Kevin Carlos, Kojo Peprah Oppong, Salis Abdul Samed, Gabin Bernardeau, Juma Bah (loan), and Tiago Gouveia (loan) have arrived, but bring little experience, especially not in Ligue 1. The new signings have so far struggled, with Nice losing two of their first three matches. Maurice is aware that the new signings are yet to meet expectations: “It is very difficult to make an assessment. It was a difficult window, but not just for Nice. We can speak about it later, even if I’m waiting for better, not just from the signings. We know that, for some players, notably those who have joined from abroad, it can take time.”

Brest

Stade Brestois have been decimated by departures. It was predictable, however. Brest bolstered their squad for last season’s UEFA Champions League campaign with many players joining on loan. With the club in financial trouble, not many of those loans could be made permanent. Abdallah Sima, Soumaila Coulibaly, Romain Faivre, Edimilson Fernandes, and Ibrahim Salah all left upon the expiry of their loan deals. Ludovic Ajorque is the one big name that remained following his loan spell.

The midfield has also lost its most important elements. Mahdi Camara and even more importantly, Pierre Lees-Melou left in the final weeks of the transfer window. Jonas Martin also left, depriving Eric Roy of further depth. Mathias Pereira Lage, Massadio Haidara and Marco Bizot also left. The latter has been replaced by Radoslaw Majecki on loan from Monaco. If his opening performances are anything to go by, he is a big downgrade.

There was also a late flurry of activity as Brest looked to bring players in. Joris Chotard and Junior Dina Ebimbe look good pick-ups, whilst Pathé Mboup, Daouda Guindo, Lucas Toussart, Junior Díaz, and Rémy Labeau Lascary also arrived in the final days of the window. However, despite that late activity, Brest are now a side with less depth and less quality than last year.

Angers

You have to feel sorry for SCO Angers. There was a reason that Alexandre Dujeux’s side stayed up last season, and he goes by the name Esteban Lepaul. He left late in the transfer window to join Stade Rennais. That is a huge blow in itself, but it has been compounded by Angers’ inability to sign a replacement.

Rémy Labeau Lascary actually joined the club. He had signed his contract, been presented, and trained with his teammates. An official press release said that, despite Lepaul’s departure, the wage bill, fixed by the DNCG, could not be increased. As a result, Labeau-Lascary’s contract was not approved by French football’s financial watchdog. The same goes for Steve Mounié, was also not able to join. That is a pretty disastrous outcome for Angers, who must now rely on academy products, such as Prosper Peter, for the campaign. There is also the case of Yahia Fofana. Angers set their asking price for the goalkeeper too high. Whilst there was interest, that asking price deterred suitors and so, following the closure of the transfer window, he ultimately left to join Turkish side Rizespor on a free transfer. Le Sco have a 50% sell-on clause, however. Louis Mouton and Hervé Koffi are the only two arrivals in what could prove a costly transfer window for Angers.

Lyon

It has been a mixed bag for Olympique Lyonnais. It was expected that it would be a difficult summer, with Lyon forced into selling, in order to keep the promises made to the DNCG (French football’s financial watchdog) and UEFA. It has meant that some key players have left. Alexandre Lacazette was forced to leave upon the expiry of his deal, whilst they were also forced into the sale of Rayan Cherki who joined Manchester City. Lucas Perri is a big loss in goal, whilst the departures of Jordan Veretout and Nemanja Matic deprive Paulo Fonseca of options in the midfield.

There has been some good business, though. Fonseca said that he was “pleasantly surprised” by how OL had fared in the transfer window, given the tight constraints imposed on the club. Tyler Morton looks a great buy from Liverpool, and he has settled in immediately. Pavel Sulc, Dominik Greif, Ruben Kluivert, Afonso Moreira, Adam Karabec, and Martín Satriano have also come in.

It looks largely coherent, but the big issue is Georges Mikautadze’s departure on deadline day. OL needed to raise more funds through transfers before the closure of the window, however, his €30m move to Villarreal leaves Lyon going into the season without a true goalscorer. In his previous spell at Brest, Satriano didn’t show he could be that, and so it is difficult to now see where the goals are coming from. In a difficult context, it is window that probably exceded expectations for OL, but there is no doubt that they come out the other side a weaker team.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle