The international break is coming to an end and Ligue 1 will soon resume its rights on Friday evening with the Monaco-Brest and Paris Saint-Germain-Toulouse posters. After eleven contested days, the capital club confirms that it remains the main candidate for its own succession. First in the ranking, Paris already has a six-point lead over ASM and nine over Olympique de Marseille. And if some of its pursuers are struggling to keep up with the Rouge et Bleu, it is perhaps because certain summer picks have not offered the expected return. In Marseille, for example, two recruits are affected. The first is Lilian Brassier. At 25, despite Stade Brestois’ historic qualification for the Champions League, the young defender preferred to go to OM where he was loaned with a purchase option (€12 million).
Announced as promising, Brassier has still not succeeded in fully convincing Roberto De Zerbi who even prefers to move Geoffrey Kondogbia back in defense alongside Leonardo Balerdi. “Kondogbia plays in defense because I look for quality and personality, especially in the central positions. The game starts from there. I believe that Brassier will be able to play with personality, to do what I want, that is to say in the game, handle the ball, look for players between the lines. But he definitely needs to improve. The idea of the game is that everything starts from the defenders, whether there are two or three. They must have personality, courage, quality. And that’s why I choose Kondogbia”declared RDZ after the match won in Nantes (2-1). Since then, Brassier has started once, it was during the Marseille fiasco against Auxerre at the Vélodrome (1-3).
The Marseille and Lyon transfer window singled out
Another Phocaean singled out, Elye Wahi (21) is also in trouble. Recruited for €26 million (+ €5 million bonus), the former Lensois was to represent the next generation at the forefront of the attack. Unfortunately for him, the plan doesn’t really go as planned. Author of big failures, Wahi, it’s 2 small goals in 9 appearances in L1. And today, he faces more competition than ever from Neal Maupay (2 goals in 7 matches). We continue, always with an attacker and always with an Olympic player. But this time, our next flop is in Lyon. Announced in Monaco, Georges Mikautadze (24 years old) finally chose to join his favorite club in exchange for €18 million. At Les Gones, we rubbed our hands at the idea of welcoming one of the revelations of the last Euro 2024 (3 goals and an assist in 4 meetings with Georgia) which came out of a good 2023/2024 financial year. L1 with FC Metz (13 goals in 20 matches). On paper, the story was good, but Mikautadze’s return to his roots is not taking anyone to seventh heaven for the moment (2 goals in 14 matches).
We stay on the banks of the Rhône to discuss the much more enigmatic case of Wilfried Zaha (32 years old). An experienced recruit thanks to his stints at Crystal Palace (90 goals) and Galatasaray, the Ivorian was supposed to be one of the guides of the Rhone offensive sector. But the Textor recruit, who cost OL €3 million for his loan, is absent. Zaha regrets his life in Istanbul and cannot adapt to the capital of Gaul. In L1, he has only made three appearances since August. About 50 kilometers away, another experienced player disappoints. Arriving in Saint-Étienne after seven seasons spent in Reims, Yunis Abdelhamid (37 years old) and his team are only taking on water in the championship. Used seven times, the Moroccan defender conceded 21 goals, including the memorable 8-0 inflicted by Nice. Since then, he has been put on the bench, notably during the derby (lost) against OL. Arriving from Westerlo for €10 million, the young Lucas Stassin (19 years old) still has time to blossom. But after scoring 9 goals last season in Belgium, the Espoirs international has still not scored a single goal with the Greens. Note still 4 assists.
19-year-olds struggling
He is part of the reinforcements of the post-Mbappé era. Arriving at Paris Saint-Germain with the label of nugget of Stade Rennais, Désiré Doué is also only 19 years old and has his whole future ahead of him. The international Espoirs tricolor only wanted PSG and Luis Enrique had promised him to play everywhere up front. But for now, Doué must be content with the role of Bradley Barcola’s understudy. A use which seems to frustrate him and which undoubtedly explains his poor record (8 matches, 1 assist). Such an observation may seem harsh for a young player faced with huge competition, except that the capital club put no less than €50 million on the table to afford him. He left PSG and things didn’t necessarily go the way he wanted. Recruited by the Parisian club almost a year ago for €20 million, Gabriel Moscardo (19 years old) had to undergo foot surgery before arriving in France. Last summer, facing competition from the Ile-de-France midfield, Luis Enrique decided to give him playing time by sending him on loan to Reims. The Brazilian joined a less publicized team and above all a city not very far from the capital. Ideal for finally launching your European adventure. This was without taking into account a hip injury which kept him away from the field for a month. Available since October 20, Moscardo was in the Reims group against Auxerre, Brest, Toulouse and Le Havre, but he has still not played a single minute in Ligue 1.
A sensation of Borussia Dortmund’s youth teams for years, Youssoufa Moukoko (19) is experiencing his very first adventure abroad. Loaned to Nice with a purchase option estimated at €18 million, the German is far from being the offensive revelation of the start of the season. Installed at the forefront of the Riviera attack, Moukoko fails to shine in this configuration. In Ligue 1, he was only used six times in two and a half months for a total of 2 goals and 1 assist. Finally, we could not finish this article dedicated to the flops of the 2024 summer transfer window without talking about Rennes. In fact, we could have talked about almost all Breton recruitment as Jorge Sampaoli’s team is in dire straits (13th in L1). We will just mention the most expensive reinforcements. Starting with midfielder Albert Grønbaek (23 years old). The Dane cost €15 million and only has one goal and as many goals. For his part, Mikayil Faye (20 years old) cost €10 million, but the former FC Barcelona resident fails to justify his status as a great Blaugrana promise. Having appeared five times in L1, Faye is far from having made his place in the Rennes defense.
Ligue 1: the tops of the 2024 transfer window
