Clubs bank quick profits as Lens close on record Mamadou Sangaré sale | OneFootball

French clubs are cashing in after just one season, with Lyon and Toulouse selling recent arrivals and Lens closing on a record exit.

According to L'Équipe, Lyon sold Afonso Moreira, 21, to Bayer Leverkusen for €29.5 million excluding bonuses, and Toulouse moved Emersonn, 22, to Ipswich Town for €28 million, yielding gains between €20 million and €30 million. Lens are close to their biggest sale, with Mamadou Sangaré, 24, heading to England for about €48 million after costing €8 million including bonuses in August 2025.

It would not be a first for Lens. Abdukodir Khusanov joined Manchester City for €40 million excluding bonuses in winter 2025, 18 months after a €100,000 arrival from Energetik Minsk. Loïs Openda also brought in about €25 million in 2023.

Lille have made rapid resale their hallmark. Their record one-year margin is Victor Osimhen’s €56.5 million in 2020, a €78 million sale after a €22 million buy, though the final take was lower. Other quick gains include Rafael Leao, Amadou Onana, Sven Botman, Gabriel, Carlos Baleba, Bafodé Diakité, and a €62 million uplift on Nicolas Pépé in 2019.

Monaco’s model has delivered too. The biggest non-academy windfall in France remains Thomas Lemar, signed from Caen for €4 million in 2015 then sold to Atlético Madrid for €72 million in 2018, a €68 million gain. Aurélien Tchouaméni’s €80 million sale to Real Madrid in 2022, after an €18 million fee to Bordeaux 18 months earlier, underlined it.

Source: L'Équipe