Cruel dilemma for FC Lorient, which needs to sell this winter, without losing sight of its immediate sporting objective: the rise to the elite of French football. First in Ligue 2 with 33 points almost halfway through the season, before the last match of the first leg in Laval (Saturday, 8 p.m.), the Morbihan team has no margin on its pursuers Paris (31 points), Dunkirk (31) and Metz (29). But she has a plethoric group of 26 players, including three goalkeepers, which allows her to double all positions. “If we keep this squad, I will be very satisfied,” Olivier Pantaloni did not hide after the success against Paris (2-0, 16th day). But the Corsican coach knows that some of his players risk being solicited and that his president will find it difficult to resist certain offers.
A sale accompanied by a loan until the end of the season?
“(Loïc) Féry needs to sell to keep his promises to the DNCG,” confides a former Ligue 1 recruiter. “He has been calling everyone for several weeks,” says an agent. With a budget reduced to €50 million this season, compared to €85 the previous season, FC Lorient will have to find some €30 million to balance its accounts before June 30.
In this context, one player will be the center of all attention in January: Junior Kroupi. The young 18-year-old striker trained at the club, best scorer in this first half of the season (8 goals in 13 games), constitutes by far the highest market value of the squad. The club would have liked to extend his contract, which runs until June 2026, but this is not the wish of the player and his entourage since this summer and the purge of the Régis Le Bris era. A sale accompanied by a loan to Lorient until the end of the season would be the solution most likely to satisfy all parties. And a partner club like Bournemouth (Premier League) an ideal candidate. But Kroupi and his advisors favor Germany for a first experience abroad.
Difficult transfer window and end of contract
Mohamed Bamba, Ayegun Tosin, Pablo Pagis, Arthur Avom Ebong, Panos Katseris, Igor Silva, Darlin Yongwa, Formose Mendy, Montassar Talbi, Yvon Mvogo: other players have distinguished themselves this season. But Bamba is injured, the clubs have no money and the winter transfer window is traditionally limited beyond attacking positions. Not enough to stop a Loïc Féry who is still good in business and who had made significant capital gains with the sales of Terem Moffi and Dango Ouattara in January 2023. Finally, note that several players are reaching the end of their contract next June and are therefore free to engage wherever they wish this winter: Yvon Mvogo, Julien Ponceau and Julien Laporte, but also Stéphane Diarra, Enzo Genton and Isaak James, without forgetting the ghost Benjamin Mendy, still paid by the club.
