Record spending by English Premier League clubs in the summer transfer window has served as a lifeline across the Channel in France, where cash-strapped teams are more reliant on selling their best players for big money than ever before. The transfers of Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille to Manchester City for 100 million euros (85.6m pounds, $117m) and France winger Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain to Liverpool for a total of 145 million euros (124m pounds, $167m) captured many headlines.
But there was a steady flow of players heading to England from France, where an oft-derided league continues to develop and sell outstanding talents to leading sides abroad. Qatar-owned PSG, the fourth-richest club in the world in this year’s Deloitte Football Money League, are the exception. I can’t guarantee that to any player”.
Because “he wanted to have more importance in the team, and that is something you have to earn in training, coach Luis Enrique insisted that Barcola left. Statistics compiled by the website Transfermarkt show that over 20 players left France for the Premier League, including five for fees over 50 million euros. English clubs signed Ligue 1 players for a reported total of 800 million euros in the summer window — meaning that of an overall Premier League spend of 4.1 billion euros, about one fifth went to France. Ligue 1 teams will give players their chance early –- Bouaddi was man of the match for Lille in a Champions League win against Real Madrid on his 17th birthday.
