The winter transfer market closed on Thursday evening in France, without the clubs having been very spending in January.
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11:59 p.m., and not a minute more. The winter transfer window closed on Thursday February 1 at the very end of the evening, with a few final movements for Ligue 1 clubs, who did not do anything crazy in January. Olympique Lyonnais, which is trying to maintain its position, was the biggest spender, while PSG and its pursuers in the standings strengthened with more measure.
A calmer winter transfer window than the previous one
One year after the storm of the 2023 winter transfer window, which saw record movements, with 1.46 billion euros injected into the January transfer market according to Fifa, the 2024 vintage was much calmer in the Old Continent. The English clubs, which notably represented 57.3% of total spending, were much less spendy, just like the Saudis.
Few big names have changed clubs. The biggest transfer of the winter is that of Vitor Roque, an 18-year-old Brazilian, center forward from Athletico Paranaense who arrived at FC Barcelona for 40 million euros according to the specialist site Transfermarkt. A Frenchman occupies second place in the ranking of the highest amounts spent this winter: right-back Sacha Boey, 23, recruited by Bayern Munich from Galatasaray for 30 million euros (according to Transfermarkt).
Questioned by AFP, Chisristophe Lepetit, sports economist, believes that “Lhe winter market, this season, has returned to what it was initially and what it should have remained, namely an adjustment market: the clubs who missed their summer transfer window, those who are injured, adjust their workforce in winter with a few arrivals or departures. But do not indulge, as we have seen in recent seasons in certain clubs, in a huge renewal of their workforce. So this year we returned to a form of normality.”
PSG prepares for the future
To compensate for the unavailability of Presnel Kimpembe and Milan Skriniar, PSG recruited Lucas Beraldo, from São Paulo, as central defender. The Brazilian, who arrived at the start of the transfer window, has already won a title under the Parisian jersey, with the Champions Trophy.
Another Brazilian, Gabriel Moscardo, was recruited by the capital club, but injured, he had surgery on his left foot and was loaned to his former club Corinthians, with whom he will return to competition before joining France in July. The French champions also loaned Hugo Ekitike to Eintracht Frankfurt in the final hours of the transfer window.
OM: crossover on the Old Port
As often since Pablo Longoria took office, Olympique de Marseille pulled out all the stops during the winter transfer window. After selling Renan Lodi to the Saudi club Al-Hilal, the Phocéens first attracted two left-backs, Ulisses Garcia (from Young Boys Bern) and Quentin Merlin (from FC Nantes). But these are far from being the only movements in a Marseille transfer window that is sometimes difficult to follow.
If Besiktas midfielder Jean Onana was expected to strengthen the squad due to Valentin Rongier’s long-term injury, OM surprised everyone by securing the services of striker Faris Moumbagna , defector from the Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt. The latter digitally replaces Vitinha in the locker room, the most expensive recruit in the club’s history in January 2023, but already sent on loan to Genoa.
OL are trying everything possible to maintain their position
Sixteenth and play-offs in the Ligue 1 standings after a catastrophic start to the season, Olympique Lyonnais recruited without counting this winter. The Rhone club parted ways with players with little playing time, such as Jeffinho, Tino Kadewere or Diego Moreira. But he attracted Adryelson and Lucas Perri from Botafogo, midfielders Nemanja Matic (Rennes) and Orel Mangala (Nottingham Forest), as well as promising attackers Gift Orban and Malick Fofana (La Gantoise).
The Lyon fireworks display, however, ended with a damp firecracker. Discussed for many days, the arrival of Algerian international winger Saïd Benrahma from the English club West Ham failed at the last minute. “West Ham has never launched the slightest technical procedure despite repeated reminders from Olympique Lyonnais“, explained the Rhone club in a press release, qualifying the “behavior“Hammers”incomprehensible, raising questions“.
Outsiders sparingly
Runner-up to PSG, Nice was strengthened with the arrival of French junior international striker Mohamed-Ali Cho, from Real Sociedad. The Aiglons also recorded the arrivals of goalkeeper Maxime Dupé (Anderlecht) and right-back Valentin Rosier (Besiktas). The third in the ranking, Brest, did not experience any notable movement, while its pursuer, Monaco, recruited the former Parisian Thilo Kehrer (West Ham).
Fifth, Lille were active in the final hours of the transfer window, with the arrivals of two Portuguese international hopefuls, Tiago Morais (Boavista) and Rafael Fernandes (Arouca) and Serbian striker Andrej Ilic, arriving from the Norwegian club Valerenga .