Angers cut salaries as Ligue 1’s smallest budget resets | OneFootball

Angers, Ligue 1’s smallest budget at 25 million euros, cut its wage bill from 13 to 8 million last summer, reducing the average gross monthly salary by 33% to 18,000. According to L’Équipe, the reshaping was required to secure DNCG approval, which linked top flight status to tighter control of wages and transfer fees.

In late May, owner Saïd Chabane said the club had overpaid, particularly average players, while chasing Ligue 1 during the Mediapro rights boom that never materialised. Salaries remained after the broadcaster pulled out in December 2020, contracts are now expiring, and he said Angers must rebuild with greater discipline.

Seven out-of-contract players were released, including Adrien Hunou, who earned a fixed 110,000 euros gross per month plus two annual bonuses of 240,000, equating to 150,000 a month. He was limited to the reserves in N3 with 11 games and two goals, and made no first-team appearance last season.

Cédric Hountondji, the squad’s second-best earner last season on 70,000 euros per month, also departed, joining Bandirmaspor in Türkiye’s second tier.

Sporting director Laurent Boissier has stuck to a plan of shorter deals, a stronger reliance on academy talent and strict pay control. The professional group has been cut to 25 contracted players from 32. Academy graduates include striker Prosper Peter, now the club’s top scorer with three, and recently extended to 2028 after Sidiki Chérif left for Fenerbahçe, having scored four in Ligue 1 before his winter move.

The salary grid has been reset, with the highest wages capped at 50,000 euros gross per month, including for loanees. Angers pays only 25% of Branco Van den Boomen’s salary while on loan from Ajax, and a little over half of goalkeeper Hervé Koffi’s from Lens.

Source: L'Équipe