Monaco, with their bloated squad, are set for a summer transformation.
Beyond PSG, France’s largest sides failed miserably to organise themselves in a coherent manner during the off-season in 2019, with Monaco arguably the greatest culprits as they concluded the campaign a disappointing ninth.
The principality side struggled particularly in the transfer market as they conducted a scattergun recruitment strategy that saw them scoop up a multitude of youngsters only to leave the first team rudderless due to a lack of experience.
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While their recent success has been predicated on shrewd work in the transfer window, this was clearly lacking in their 2019 recruitment drive and to that end they are set to appoint Paul Mitchell, formerly key in player recruitment at Southampton and Tottenham, and now working with the Red Bull clubs, as their new director of football, according to L’Equipe.
Whomever takes the reigns in this regard has much work to do. Monaco have an unwieldly number of players on their books – over 70 players are tied to professional deals – and sifting through these to find a core to the squad will be the first challenge, while offloading those not deemed good enough will be the second. As many as 30 players could leave.
Only then can Monaco think about rebuilding to mount a challenge for the top three after three wasted years following their championship success.
Unfortunately for Monaco’s small but loyal support, there are rumours that top scorer Wissam Ben Yedder, who posts an FC ranking of 86, could be one of the players on the move, with a fee as low as €40 million possibly enough to secure the services of the man who finished joint leading scorer in Ligue 1 alongside Kylian Mbappe last season.
Even at 29, the price represents a bargain for any side on a sure enough financial footing to make a move.
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