2023-06-09 13:30:19
Paris (AFP) – After the departure of Argentine star Leo Messi, which marked the end of the Ligue 1 season, the summer transfer market opens on Saturday in France and promises to be ambitious for French clubs.
. PSG still under construction
With the official departures of Leo Messi and Sergio Ramos, PSG very quickly embarked on summer maneuvers. With the aim of renewing the workforce and breathing new life into this team, which showed a lot of shortcomings and little desire in the second part of the 2022-2023 financial year.
The construction of the team around Kylian Mbappé, in the last year of his contract, remains the priority of the leaders, who will also have to monitor the situation of the Brazilian Neymar, at the end of the contract in 2025 but who might have desires elsewhere.
The potential departure of this other L1 star, following that of Messi, not to mention the Argentinian’s criticism of his two years in Paris, would be a new blow for the championship.
Above all, the mission for football adviser Luis Campos will be to make his recruitment more successful, following the failed one last year: Hugo Ekitike, Fabian Ruiz, Carlos Soler and to a lesser extent Vitinha did not advance the reds and blues.
This week, the Portuguese has already made good progress, still relying on agent Jorge Mendes. The first two recruits of the summer transfer window are very close to signing. Spanish striker Marco Asensio, free from Real Madrid, and Uruguayan defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte (22, Sporting Portugal) had their medical examination in Paris on Monday.
PSG are still looking for defenders and the name of the Slovak Milan Skriniar of Inter Milan, free but who is dragging a back injury, is likely to return quickly to the table because negotiations have started for almost a year.
Paris is also interested in 2018 world champion defender Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich) as well as striker Marcus Thuram (Mönchengladbach) to “Frenchify” the workforce.
On the bench, the Qatari leaders are looking to find a replacement for Christophe Galtier, who was informed of his departure at the start of the week.
Luis Campos will also have to manage the many returns from loans which might well pollute PSG’s summer (Kurzawa, Wijnaldum, Paredes, Draxler…). This problem might thwart potential good shots, such as the arrival of attackers Victor Osimhen and Bernado Silva.
. OM, perpetual motion
Like last season, OM are looking for a coach, following the resignation of Igor Tudor, when his players finished the season in 3rd place, forced to go through a preliminary round and a play-off for the C1.
Since 2016 and the arrival of Frank McCourt as owner, Rudi Garcia, André Villas-Boas, Jorge Sampaoli and Igor Tudor have settled on the bench.
This time, “we are looking for a personality and a style of play that suits what we want to offer”, explained Pablo Longoria, the Marseille president, who activated several tracks.
On the workforce side, the most important file is that of Alexis Sanchez. Longoria would like to keep his Chilean striker for another season, and has offered him a raise.
A few files also remain pending, such as the case of Mattéo Guendouzi, who was thought to be leaving and who is less so now that there is no longer Tudor. Conversely, the extension of Sead Kolasinac, which seemed certain, might depend on the next coach.
. Openda on the way out?
For its return to the Champions League, RC Lens, which finished one unit behind PSG, should be able to count on its coach Franck Haise.
On the other hand, the Sangs et Or might see their center forward Lois Openda (21 goals this season), under contract until 2027 but courted by RB Leipzig, leave, according to media.
AS Monaco, which had a complicated end to the year because it did not qualify for Europe, dismissed its coach Philippe Clement and is looking for a new coach. Conversely, Rennes, qualified in C3, will keep their trainer Bruno Genesio, who wishes to improve his workforce. The Belgian Jeremy Doku might leave Brittany for a large sum.
In Lille, the departure of Jonathan David, one of the top scorers of the season might also slip away, in addition to Jonathan Bamba, certain to leave the club.
© 2023 AFP
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