The new stars
Jonathan Ikoné
Irregular with the LOSC and criticized by Christophe Galtier, Jonathan Ikoné was unable to take over from Nicolas Pépé, who left for Arsenal for nearly 80M € last year. The striker had yet tasted the France team, from the top of his 21 years (22 today), in September and October. After 4 selections with the Blues, Ikoné returned to the Hopes. This season could be the one of the explosion for the player trained in PSG, in the manner of Pépé or Victor Osimhen, transferred for more than 60M € to Naples last month.
Eduardo Camavinga
He has not yet been called up by Didier Deschamps, but he has a real card to play for Euro 2021. Eduardo Camavinga, who will turn 18 next November, is coming out of a first full season with Stade Rennais. Rumors have not stopped sending him to Real Madrid in recent months, to the point that the Pinault family, owners of the Breton club, slap their fists on the table. Camavinga will play well in the Champions League in Rennes, and if the midfielder confirms, a big club will surely break the piggy bank to afford it.
Championship executives
Memphis depay
He had made an excellent start to the 2019-2020 fiscal year (9 goals and 2 assists in 13 matches) before suffering a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee. The Dutchman, who has never hidden his intention to join a more upscale club, will be motivated to regain his level in 2020-2021 for what could be like his last season in the Olympic jersey. from Lyonnais. Indeed, under contract until June 2021, the 26-year-old striker has still not extended with the Rhone formation. To see which clubs will be ready to position themselves on the former Manchester United player next summer - if he does not leave Lyon this summer. Its future may well be determined by its performance over the next few months.
Florian Thauvin
With a transfer window that does not close until October 5, Florian Thauvin should start the Ligue 1 season, but he is not sure of finishing it. The Olympique de Marseille winger (27) is at the end of his contract in a year. OM do not seem able to extend it, but the contenders are not scrambling to meet Marseille's financial requirements in the event of departure. Thauvin, 2018 world champion with France, is coming out of an almost blank season due to injuries, forgetting his great 2018-19 exercise (16 goals, 8 assists in 33 matches).
Florian Thauvin's superb solo goal against Metz in 2017
The end of their career awaits them
Steve mandanda
With a contract that runs until June 2021, Steve Mandanda could well play the last of his 13 seasons at Olympique de Marseille. The lining of Hugo Lloris in the Blues (35) accused the blows last year, but he regained form in 2019-20. What reassure on its place of holder in a team which must confirm its status of dolphin of the PSG in Ligue 1. According to the Team , Mandanda would not want yet, like his teammate Dimitri Payet, to consider a reconversion in the technical staff. The most capped player in the history of OM (549 matches) must continue to prove his worth in a club with too big an ambition that his will be enough to keep him on the ground.
Yannick Cahuzac
Emblematic midfielder of SC Bastia, Yannick Cahuzac discovered Ligue 1 at the Corsican club, before two seasons in Toulouse. He then left for the other end of France, for Lens, to become its captain and guide the Sang et Ors towards the climb. He is back in the elite, at 35 (36 in January) and one year from the end of his contract. Renowned for his slaughter in the midfield and his bloodletting (4 expulsions during the 2016-17 season in Bastia), Cahuzac is perhaps on the dawn of his final season in Ligue 1.
Jeremy Morel
Time to complete the loop? It looked like it when Jérémy Morel signed a one-year contract plus an optional one at Lorient, his training club. Les Merlus are back in Ligue 1, a championship that the defender (36) discovered with them in 2006 and that he has not left since. The Malagasy international, passed through Lyon, Marseille and Rennes, has 388 matches within the elite. Like Cahuzac, he plays for a club that should fight for maintenance.
Read also
- Who left, who arrived? Update on Ligue 1 transfers before the resumption