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#2 To get a glimpse of football’s future
Young talent has the potential to explode in Ligue 1 like it cannot do anywhere else. A comparative lack of finance compared to Europe’s biggest clubs means that team’s in France’s top flights have been forced to focus on their academies, and they have received rich rewards.
Kylian Mbappe, the 18-year-old striking sensation who broke through with Monaco last term, is simply the best example. He is now reckoned to be worth €180 million by his club but may not stay beyond the transfer deadline day.
He is just one of a huge number of youngsters to have broken through the ranks in recent times, with the likes of team-mate Thomas Lemar, PSG’s Adrien Rabiot and Alban Lafont at Toulouse all promising big careers after establishing themselves as regulars last season.
And Ligue 1 clubs are starting to retain this talent, too. Rennes, who produced Barcelona target Ousmane Dembele, now of Dortmund, managed to secure the signing of Ismaila Traore for €20 million from Metz, beating off Barcelona for the youngster, who felt he would stand a better chance of developing in France.
Such signs can only be positive.
