Manchester United’s recent £52million acquisition of Leny Yoro from Lille reflects the Premier League’s increased reliance on Ligue 1, the French top division, for fresh talent. Over the past decade, Premier League clubs have spent more than £1.81 billion on Ligue 1 players, a trend expected to cross the £2 billion mark in coming weeks. Despite lagging in UEFA’s national coefficient rankings, Ligue 1 continues to act as a chief talent factory for the Premier League, with 145 players making the move from French clubs.
The trend of Premier League clubs spending large sums on Ligue 1 talent has not been a recent phenomenon. Invoking the likes of Eric Cantona, David Ginola and Arsenal’s French legion under Arsene Wenger, the value of French talent and the potential for their progression under English coaching is well recognized. As the perception of Ligue 1 improved, Premier League clubs started investing heavily in the French market, with players like Eden Hazard, Olivier Giroud, and Hugo Lloris making notable transfers.
Ligue 1’s propensity for fielding younger players, thus promising potential for development, makes it a favourable market for Premier League clubs. UEFA’s annual report, The European Club Footballing Landscape, found that 39 percent of all domestic minutes played in France in the 2021-22 season were by players aged 23 or under, giving it the youngest profile of the big European leagues. This is in contrast with 26 percent in the Premier League and 20 percent in La Liga.
However, the higher financial power of the Premier League is exerting pressure on Ligue 1 and creating a vulnerable environment for French clubs. With declining TV rights and a value dwarfed by the Premier League’s total TV packages (worth over £3bn annually), French clubs are feeling the heat. Selling players has become an integral part of the business model, with Lille selling £250million of players to Premier League clubs, including Yoro, in the last five years.
Moreover, French clubs are now part of the development plans for many Premier League entities. Chelsea’s owners purchased Strasbourg last year, while Liverpool’s owners were in discussions about buying Bordeaux, however, the talks fell through. The same motivations for acquiring French players have influenced the ownership of French clubs.
Despite a growing interest in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 remains an important territory for the Premier League. A total of 260 players were signed from the French top division between 2004 and 2024, a figure higher than Spain, Italy, and Germany. The average cost for a Ligue 1 recruit in this period was slightly under £9m, making it a market favourable both for the promise of potential and value for money.
