On the eve of a new Ligue 1 season, many clubs seem a little distracted. Even those accustomed to competing at the top have concerns that transcend the pitch. In a league that contains the greatest team on the continent, the focus of the majority of clubs has shifted to surviving and providing, rather than competing.
Any fighting spirit has long since been kicked out of Paris Saint-Germain’s competitors; back-to-back Champions League titles will do that. It feels like a long time ago since Kylian Mbappé moved to Real Madrid on a free transfer, leaving behind a scent of opportunity that filled the nostrils of Marseille, Monaco and Lille. Roberto De Zerbi was bullish when he joined Marseille.
Finishing second has now become an aspiration, especially for a club such as Marseille, given their predicament. Of all of the distracted teams, Marseille are the most preoccupied with off-field matters. While the club avoided a European ban, allowing them to compete in the Europa League this season, Uefa’s tone was one of a final warning: redress the financial imbalance or you’re out.
There has been a change in the dugout, with the (almost boringly) dependable Bruno Génésio coming in for Habib Beye, who replaced De Zerbi in February, but the demands made by Uefa – and the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog – have prevented the club from making a single signing. There have been plenty of sales (Mason Greenwood, Facundo Medina, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Gérnoimo Rulli have all left on permanent deals), but not enough for Marseille to contemplate dipping into the market themselves. Marseille’s “everything must go” sale suggested the club were in survival mode and their reaction to Pierre-Emile Højbjerg refusing a move to Newcastle confirmed it.
He was stripped of the captaincy for the club’s friendly against Atlético Madrid. Génésio said it was a decision made above his station and one he disagreed with. I have to agree to certain obligations,” he said.
Génésio wants to keep Højbjerg, but the austerity cure ensures the club are hell-bent on doing the opposite. It is a situation that perfectly encapsulates the conflict between sporting ambition and financial necessity, familiar to many clubs in Ligue 1, and increasingly those competing towards the top of it – lest we forget Lyon’s recent brush with administration. With the authorities “supervising their wage bill”, Monaco have made savings this summer.
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