Ligue 1 is back with lack of star power and exacerbated financial imbalances

After the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar the previous season, Kylian Mbappé’s acrimonious departure from the Parc des Princes this summer definitively marks the end of Paris Saint-Germain’s “bling bling” era, which by its end was internally perceived as an impediment, not a means to European success. But the centrality of the aforementioned trio, especially Mbappé, to PSG’s success cannot be understated. While the Champions League continues to elude them, they have been the key to asserting the club’s domestic hegemony.

PSG will enter into a league season without an unarguable Galáctico in their midst for the first time in seven years; for rivals, that air of infallibility may have faded. There is a scent of opportunity, a scent that has certainly reached the nostrils of Marseille, who have invested heavily to bridge the gulf in quality between the two sides. However it would be foolish to perceive last season’s domestic treble winners as a sitting duck; PSG still remain a club à part in France – on the financial plane, as well as on the pitch.

The biggest question coming into the summer was how they would replace Mbappé, a player who, despite playing a bit-part role towards the end of the campaign, was involved in 33% of Les Parisiens’ goals in Ligue 1 last season. Thus far they have not, but that does not mean that they have not spent, shelling out a combined €101.7m (£87.6m) on João Neves, Matvey Safonov and Willian Pacho, with Désiré Doué also expected to arrive for a considerable sum. However, beyond the investment in players,there has been, for the first time under QSI’s ownership, an adherence to a coherent sporting project, which began with the appointment of Luís Campos as sporting director two years ago and continued with the arrival of Luis Enrique at the start of last season. The Spaniard is succeeding where so many managers have failed at the Parc des Princes – enhancing his reputation rather than tarnishing it.

Luis Enrique watches on from the touchline

Admittedly, there is now an environment more conducive to success at PSG, but Luis Enrique deserves plaudits. Hire an elite manager and back them: it seems like such a simple formula, but it is one that has too infrequently been applied by Ligue 1 directors.

Marseille have followed that formula this summer, pipping elite-level European competition to bring Roberto De Zerbi to the Vélodrome. He too has been well backed, despite the financial hit incurred due to missing out on Europe after last season’s circus, which saw them burn through four managers. There is a need to appease the Italian but within that strategy a recognition – as obvious as it may seem – that providing their manager with the tools he desires gives him the best chance of succeeding. The arrivals of players such as Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Mason Greenwood, Lilian Brassier, Elye Wahi, Valentín Carboni, and Ismaël Koné certainly raise the quality of the patchwork squad last time out, making them, alongside a largely unchanged Monaco, the most likely challengers to PSG.

Resources have not been as plentiful elsewhere. Brest – as prophesied by their sporting director, Grégory Lorenzi – were not in a position to build on last season’s historic achievement by spending big to add quality to their squad before their Champions League adventure. A vertiginous decline may await, unless Eric Roy can work his magic once again.

Elsewhere, Nice and Lens fall into the category of clubs working with meagre means but with ambitions of European football. In order to obtain it, they have made intelligent managerial appointments: Franck Haise left Lens to take the hot seat at the Allianz Riviera after the departure of Francesco Farioli to Ajax, with Will Still replacing him at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. The desired return to England may not have taken form for the Anglo-Belgian manager, but he has at least edged closer to the Channel after his successful spell at Reims, taking the helm at what he describes as “the most English club in France.” He will hope to replicate the success he had in the Grand Est at abigger club and also in Europe.

De Zerbi, Haise and Still represent three of the five managerial changes at last season’s Top 10 finishers; Lille’s appointment of the Ligue 1 stalwart Bruno Génésio after Paulo Fonseca’s move to AC Milan and Luka Elsner’s arrival at Reims bare the others.

The appointment of Elsner, who took Le Havre into Ligue 1 and then kept them there on a shoestring budget, is indicative of a novel and positive trend of France nurturing and retaining managerial talent. Amid the significant talent drain (Mbappé, Leny Yoro, Khéphren Thuram, Jean-Clair Todibo, etc.), the lifting of the managerial ceiling offers hope that the quality of the league will not be compromised by the big name departures.

Luka Elsner watches on during a pre-season friendly match between Reims and Machida Zelvia at the Machida Gion stadium in Tokyo

This also promises to be a season where the divide between top and bottom, those who have and those who do not, will be exacerbated. For much of last season, there was an impending sense of doom as the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), Ligue 1’s governing body, sleepwalked into a crisis. Having failed to entice a single bid when the broadcasting rights for the upcoming cycle (2024-29) were priced at an ambitious €1bn, the drawn out process of finding a broadcaster was only concluded less than a month before the start of the campaign. The LFP sold the rights to DAZN and beIN Sport for around half of the initial asking price, while consumers will be left paying more than they have in previous seasons – it is a lose-lose scenario.

Clubs will also suffer, a more stratified league an expected consequence. Last season, with three gameweeks to go, all 18 teams bar PSG, had something for which to play be it European qualification or relegation; for Montpellier, both were possibilities. However La Paillade now illustrate the financial divide in the league. They need to sell before buying and are yet to make a single purchase in the transfer window, hence the president Laurent Nicollin’s exasperation at the LFP’s handling of the broadcasting rights deal and his accusation thatCanal Plus, through their unwillingness to bid for the rights, were “trying to kill French football.”

Montpellier are not the only ones. Le Havre are in a similar position, having spent nothing in the window so far, likewise newly promoted Angers, the outstanding candidates for an immediate return to Ligue 2. Auxerre have struggled too but have at least succeeded in doing some shrewd low-cost business, while Saint-Étienne, the other promoted side, have bucked that trend; they have their wealthy new Canadian owners to thank for that.

Financial imbalances in football are nothing novel but the context of the French game will accentuate them in Ligue 1 this season. It is those same imbalances, as well as a newfound competence, that make PSG favourites once again, but intelligent decision-making from perennial challengers and some ambitious managerial appointments may yet bridge the gap as Les Parisiens step into an Mbappé-less unknown.