• Lille will have lost only two major players from last season during the transfer window.

  • But if the northern club has kept the majority of its executives, it has not strengthened much with only three arrivals.

We announced a great exodus and departures in abundance.

But while the transfer window closed its porters Tuesday evening, it is clear that the big clearance sale announced did not take place at Losc, at all not among major players.

A complicated economic context or the desire of leaders to keep a competitive workforce in the Champions League despite the crisis?

Whatever happens, the champions of France have not faded away and will be able to approach the rest of the season a little more calmly.

Even if the Lille bench does not appear to be very supplied.

On the purely economic side, the balance of Losc in terms of transfer is positive with 38 million euros (51 million in sales for 13 million in revenue).

Results of the Lille races.

Only two important departures

At the end of last season, it was estimated at five or six the number of potential departures of executive players.

In the end, of the eleven type of last season, only Mike Maignan (€ 13 million at AC Milan) and Boubakary Soumaré (€ 20 million at Leicester) left.

If he joined Atlanta for a very correct amount (10 M €), Luiz Araujo was not an indisputable holder last year.

Announced starters, the Fonte, Sanches, Botman, Ikoné, Bamba and Celik all remained.

Which should not displease Jocelyn Gourvennec the coach of Losc.

A big degreasing operation among secondary players

In addition to the three major departures which brought in more than 40 million euros in the coffers of the northern club, Lille also took the opportunity to downsize its workforce a little by selling players on loan in recent seasons.

Thus Kouamé (€ 2.5 million in Troyes), Soumaoro (€ 2.5 million in Bologna), Onana (€ 2 million in Bordeaux) and Koffi (€ 500,000 in Charleroi) also brought in money for the northern club.

Lille also separated from players on whom it had not counted for a long time for various reasons (Sadzoute, Show, Camara, Manzi, Palmieri, Ouattara, Liguori…).

In total, no less than fifteen players left Lille this summer.

A degreasing operation desired upon his arrival in December by Olivier Létang, the president of the northern club.

It is also a way of turning the page on the Gérard Lopez era and its frenzied trading.

Only three arrivals

Conversely, if Lille has slimmed down a lot this summer, the club has not strengthened much. Only three players arrived at the champions of France this summer. The biggest transfer of the summer concerns Amadou Onana. The Belgian midfielder arrived from Hamburg for seven million euros. Arrived on the last day of the transfer window, Swedish left-back Gabriel Gudmunsson arrives from the Dutch club Groningen for 6 million euros. Finally, Lille is attached to Atletico Madrid the loan for a season of goalkeeper Ivo Grbic. If he is not a rookie strictly speaking, the young midfielder Angel Gomes, loaned last year to Boavista, made his debut in Ligue 1 where he was started for the first time on Sunday against Montpellier.

In the end, no great experienced player has come to strengthen the northern club mainly for economic reasons.

Reconciling the Champions League and Ligue 1 with such a workforce may be a bit fair.

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