Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs had until Thursday evening to adjust their squads before the close of the winter transfer window, which was particularly calm this year, despite some departures and arrivals on Thursday at several clubs.
As everywhere in Europe, no resounding transfer was made in France in January, during which Lyon and OM were the clubs which attracted the most attention, the first to prepare for its maintenance operation, the second to bring order to his group.
Unlike previous seasons, Paris SG was rather discreet but settled one last file on Thursday, that of striker Hugo Ekitike.
PSG and Eintracht Frankfurt have managed to reach an agreement for a loan with a compulsory purchase option of around 30 million euros, a source close to the negotiations told AFP.
The two clubs formalized the loan early Thursday evening.
But PSG did not part ways with the second
“lofter”
Layvin Kurzawa, who arrived in 2015.
In terms of arrivals, the Parisians have recruited only two Brazilians, Lucas Beraldo, who has already played in Parisian colors, and Gabriel Moscardo, from Corinthians, who kept their young midfielder on loan.
OL and OM as leaders
Lyon, stuck at the bottom of the ranking (16th) and which is now seeking to remain in Ligue 1, has been very active on the transfer market, but its recruitment strategy is not very clear.
The Rhone residents have already recruited two Brazilians, defender Adryelson and goalkeeper Lucas Perri, who have never played in Europe, as well as two young 18-year-old Belgians from Gantoise, Malick Fofana and Gift Orban.
None of these four players seem ready for a maintenance operation.
Which is not the case for Serbian Nemanja Matic, 35, extricated from his psychodrama in Rennes where he arrived this summer and whose experience could be valuable to John Textor's club.
The American owner also signed the Belgian midfielder from Nottingham Forest, Orel Mangala, on Thursday evening, unlike the Algerian winger from West Ham Saïd Benrahma who was nevertheless strongly anticipated in Lyon.
Better off than OL in the championship, Marseille (7th) is also experiencing a troubled period which resulted in a relative frenzy during the transfer window.
Deploring an abnormally high number of absentees, due to the CAN and multiple injuries, the club recruited four players, loaned or purchased: Jean Onana, Ulisses Garcia, Faris Moumbagna and Quentin Merlin, from Nantes.
Closed double-tour clubs
He sold his Brazilian defender Renan Lodi to the Saudis of Al-Hilal and formalized on Thursday morning the loan with purchase option to Genoa of his Portuguese striker Vitinha, recruited for 32 million a year ago but lacking in confidence.
But the Marseille leaders especially took advantage of the transfer window to show their muscles to part of their workforce, whose coach Gennaro Gattuso deplores the lack of discipline and involvement.
They put their French internationals Jonathan Clauss and Senegalese Pape Gueye on the market, without parting with them.
The other Ligue 1 clubs took advantage of the winter window to make adjustments, without breaking the bank.
This is the case of Monaco which recruited former Parisian Thilo Kehrer, on loan from West Ham, one of the most notable transfers of this transfer window.
Reims has recruited French midfielder and former PSG player Benjamin Stambouli, 33, who returns to Ligue 1, seven years after leaving it.
And Serbian striker Andrej Ilic has signed for Losc until 2027.
The winter market in France was rather marked by the refusal of
“small”
clubs to cede their best players to the bigger ones.
The Lille nugget Leny Yoro, 17 years old, coveted in particular by PSG but firmly retained by its leaders, at least for this season, is the most striking example, just like the Stade Brestois midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou, prevented from go to Rennes.
On the other hand, Strasbourg, tenth in Ligue 1, let its captain and starting goalkeeper, the Belgian Matz Sels, slip away in the face of the price lined up by Nottingham Forest, sixteenth two points from the relegation zone.
This departure was offset by the arrival of Saint-Etienne goalkeeper Matthieu Dreyer, 34, who had lost his starting place with the Greens.