Asensio at PSG, OL in the running for the exes, we imagined the ideal transfer window for French (and non-French) clubs
The winter transfer window is generally seen as an “adjustment variable” by clubs. But the “adjustment” is more or less important depending on the standings, as demonstrated by the case of Saint-Etienne, ready to slam half of its budget in order to avoid a fall in the national team. 20 minutes looked at some hot spots in this market just waiting to ignite by midnight on January 31st.
PSG is (still) looking for a middle ground
“No arrivals” if “no departures” thundered Christophe Galtier on Friday, two days after the first defeat of the season in Lens (3-1). A match that confirmed Parisian concerns in central defense as well as in midfield. In the first sector, Milan Skriniar’s track begins to look like an Arlesian, like Drogba’s return to OM ten years ago. And then Presnel Kimpembé will end up playing again and Galtier seems willing to let the very young El Chadaille Bitshiabu play.
But we’d bet on a mid-final, where Paris nevertheless invested El Salvador’s GDP last summer with the quartet Vitinha – Fabian Ruiz – Carlos Soler – Renato Sanches. The first adapted quickly, the second secured plenty of time before getting injured in early November and then signing a catastrophic match at Lens, while the other two play supporting roles, an option for the Portuguese infirmary. Luis Campos must have a citizen of the Iberian peninsula to pull out of his box of tricks…
The traces of 20 minutes : Seko Fofana, who once again struggled in Paris this weekend with Lens; any Spanish midfielder who has at least one selection with La Roja; any Portuguese midfielder who has at least one selection with the Seleção.
The OM draws the attacker
Amina Harit? Her knee is loose for several more months. Gerson? He finally found his way back to Flamengo on Tuesday, after weeks of trial and error. So Olympique de Marseille must recruit in the middle and Provence It arouses interest in the Ukrainian of Atalanta Bergamo Ruslan Malinovskyi, already courted in vain last summer. Not quite the partridge of the year (29 years old) but a solid person who could serve Marseille’s midfield better than Luis Suarez in OM’s attack.
The Colombian is yet another proof that you should always be wary of counterfeits. The namesake of the former Uruguayan terror of Liverpool and Barca, who arrived from Granada last summer, has already crossed the Pyrenees in the opposite direction, on loan to Almeria. Given that Alexis Sanchez feels a bit lonely in attack and Bamba Dieng doesn’t know whether to stay, a center forward is expected from OM.
The traces of 20 minutes : Wissam Ben Yedder, Monaco captain rejected on the bench by the very young Elyesse Ben Seguir; Andy Delort, who already seems tired of Nice after a year and a half on the French Riviera, an eternity for the Algerian international; Anthony Martial, if Manchester United agree to pay 95% of his salary…
OL brings out the DeLorean
After Corentin Tolisso, Alexandre Lacazette and even Rémy Riou last summer, Dejan Lovren this winter… The expression “doing something new with something old” seems invented for Olympique Lyonnais. For the moment, the success of the initiative is all relative, with a poor 8th place and a “Lolo” Blanc effect that ended quickly and surprisingly on Sunday at home against Clermont (0-1).
The return of Lovren, 3rd in the recent World Cup with Croatia, should bring experience to a slightly too young defence. But to tell the truth, they are all sectors that seem to need to be strengthened in order to finally try to get out of the anonymity in which Les Gones sink season after season.
The traces of 20 minutes : Maxime Gonalons (Clermont), Clément Grenier (Mallorca), Bernard Lacombe (free).
Angers, the red lantern that is terrorizing Europe
You can be last in Ligue 1, chain nine defeats in a row – current series – and have players courted by the main European clubs. This is the case of the SCO, even if the interest in question is mainly due to the formidable progress of Morocco during the last World Cup.
Among the Atlas Lions, silky midfielder Azzedine Ounahi (22) wowed everyone in Qatar, starting with Luis Enrique, one of his victims with Spain. More experienced, left winger Sofiane Boufal (29) also brought his class to Doha. Both witnessed the Angevins’ last home defeat against Lorient (1-2) on Sunday and received a trophy from their president in passing. On Prime Video, Saïd Chabane also dropped, in the manner of Fréro Delavega: “We would like to keep them all, but at some point, the siren song…”
The traces of 20 minutes : Ounahi signs for Leicester, Boufal moves to CR7 at Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
The Argentinian world champions, protagonists of the transfer market?
Who says title of world champion means considerable increase in the value of a player. Elected best young player of the World Cup in Qatar, Enzo Fernandez (21) could leave Benfica to move to Chelsea, willing to shell out 120 million euros, the amount of the Albiceleste midfielder’s release clause. The multi-tattooed midfielder already has his mind on the Blues after returning home for New Year’s Eve against the advice of his Portuguese club and missing two training sessions.
Less flamboyant but just as essential, water carrier Alexis MacAllister is having happy days in Brighton on the edge of the English Channel. But at 24 he can aim higher, why not at Arsenal, the current leaders of the Premier League. As for Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), a much better goalkeeper than a comedian, his name circulated on the side of Bayern Munich after Manuel Neuer’s ski-on injury.
The traces of 20 minutes : After an argument with Adrien Rabiot, Leandro Paredes was sent back from Juve to PSG who had loaned him to him. In the process, El Chiringuito has relaunched a countdown for Kylian Mbappé’s arrival at Real Madrid before midnight on 31 January. Nicolas Tagliafico was surprised by a security guard at the OL training camp as he tried to escape by digging a tunnel with a teaspoon recovered from his water bottle.
