Are we nearly there yet? Ten days to go, people, stay strong, because this is when the really crazy stuff starts. Mind you, while the big-money rumours reach fever pitch, the more limited finances of most of Ligue 1 mean this is swoop-in-and-snap-up time, with loans, trials, options to buy, and player-swaps prevailing.
Bordeaux – out of contract defender Florian Marange has signed up for Crystal Palace, signing off with some bitter parting words about Francis Gillot – « He told me he doesn’t like Bordelais [people from Bordeaux], that we have a bad attitude. You see, he sent Chalmé to Ajaccio last season, he let Trech [Trémoulinas] go to Kiev this summer. The only one he can’t touch is Planus ». Ouch. Promising young striker Gaëtan Laborde, who scored 8 for the reserves last season and also the winner in les MiniGirondins’ Gambardella win, has been loaned to Red Star.
Dan. Dan. Dan.
Evian – continue their role as storage facility for Dynamo Kiev, with Argentinian striker Marco Ruben coming in on loan to join Andres Escobar and Facundo Bertoglio. Central midfielder Dan Nistor has come in from Romanian dauphins Pandurii Târgu Jiu on a four-year-deal for €0.8m. Ghanaian international midfielder Mohammed Rabiu has gone to Kuban Krasnodar in Russia for a rumoured three-year €3 million contract.
Lorient – 22-year-old attacking midfielder and Guinean international Sadio Diallo, who Christian Gourcuff says they have been interested in for two years, despite not scoring in the league last season, has come in on loan from Rennes. Baptiste Reynet has come in from Dijon as back-up keeper to Fabien Audard, who L’Equipe reports suffers from back problems, but also needs replacing a couple of times a season for red-card-knack. Benjamin Lecomte (his previous replacement) and young midfielder Rémi Mulumba (already loaned to Dijon last season) are going the other way, on loans with options to buy.
Lyon – not content with selling, cold-shouldering or otherwise ignoring most of the higher-paid attackers at their disposal, OL are moving on some of their academy talent as well. 21-year-old Harry Novillo is off to Mons after a successful trial.
Monaco – Argentinian international goalkeeper Sergio Romero has come in on loan, with an option to buy, from Sampdoria, as competition for Danijel Subasic.
Nice – little-used and out-of-contract left-winger Kevin Diaz has gone to Tours. Espoirs goalkeeper Joris Delle is being loaned to Cercle Bruges for more regular game-time. OGCN’s less-than-successful trip to Cyprus for the Europa League playoff against Apollon Limassol was not a total waste, as they took the opportunity to drop off surplus-to-requirements striker Abraham Guié Guié with the club on a year-long loan with option to buy. Interesting approach. Or possibly the most convincing story they could come up with after mistakenly leaving him behind in a service station.
Paris-SG – have confirmed that local hero and non-Portuguese-speaking centre-back Mamadou Sakho is anxious to leave, seeking game-time in the run-up to the World Cup (he was not part of the squad for the recent Belgium friendly), and « we will have time [before 2 September] to find a solution that suits both parties ».
Rennes – are trialling former Lorient leftback Lucas Mareque.
Saint-Etienne – have loaned out little-used striker Kevin Mayi to Niort. He may only have made 7 league appearances last season, all as sub, but that actually makes him the most experienced of their listed attackers after Brandao and Gradel, what with PEA to BRD and Mollo back to Nancy (for now).
Braithwaite. Danish.
Toulouse – have cashed in big on Etienne Capoue, who is going to Tottenham, where people seem to think he’ll be job-sharing a centre-back role. Which he can do, natch, but would seem a bit of a waste. €14m is the rumoured price, and while they’ve been busy recruiting, they might want to try finding a replacement sharpish. In central midfield, they have picked up Colombian international Abel Aguilar who played last season on loan at Deportivo La Coruna. The €2m price is being put in several envelopes; Udinese (for some reason) get half, Hércules Alicante (nominally his owners) get €250k, and the Fisc and various other creditors of the Spanish club get the rest. Also in that area, Clement Chantome has come in on loan from PSG, looking for more game time, preferably not on the wing. In attack, Adrien Regattin has extended his contract and young Kevin Rodrigues looks set for promotion to the seniors after his U19 Euros with France. Mihai Roman (RW, in on a free from Rapid Bucharest) has done his Achilles already, but Danish international Martin Braithwaite has come in from Esbjerg to add some firepower upfront. Still sort of need a deeper-lying midfielder though – which looks like it won’t be young gun Adrien Rabiot, who they had on loan from PSG last season; he’s back in Laurent Blanc’s plans, apparently.
Valenciennes – man-mountain leftback and Cameroon international Gaëtan Bong has joined Olympiakos on a three-year deal for a rumoured €1m.