The incredible cash haul Monaco have raked in from selling their stars this summer revealed… and it hasn’t come close to ending yet
MONACO are under siege this summer and have already sold more than £160million worth of talent.
Benjamin Mendy’s £51.7m transfer to Manchester City was the biggest fee the Ligue 1 champions have received.
Other stand-outs include Bernardo Silva (£45m) also moving to the Etihad and Tiemoue Bakayoko (£36m) joining Chelsea.
Crucially, Les Monegasques still have Paris Saint-Germain transfer target Kylian Mbappe.
Though it seems increasingly unlikely that will remain the case beyond the end of the transfer window.
Football Whispers have broken down how much money the Ligue 1 champions have made before the start of the new campaign, and what they are looking to do in order to rebuild.
Silva was first out the door, joining Manchester City just a week after final game of the season.
His departure was expected... the Portuguese midfielder had been outstanding en-route to the league title.
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After his move, it was a question of how many of his team-mates would follow suit in leaving for pastures new.
It was expected that one, not both, of their starting full-backs would be sold.
So when Djibril Sidibe signed a new contract until 2022, it was clear Mendy would be the one to move.
What helped Monaco’s situation was City’s pursuit of Kyle Walker.
Spending a reported £45m on the Spurs right-back meant they could dig their heels in and make sure they got full value for the 23-year-old.
Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim had already signed Brazilian defender Jorge in January as back-up.
With the £11.5m deal to bring Terence Kongolo from Feyenoord, the Ligue 1 side had two left-backs in place before Mendy moved to the Etihad.
This is what Monaco do better than most big clubs. They are not oblivious to how the transfer window works.
They know they have coveted players, so identify replacements before first-team stars are rumoured to be on their way.
For example, Bakayoko was signed from Rennes in 2014 when Geoffrey Kondogbia was in the starting XI.
When the latter moved on to Seville, Bakayoko stepped up. And history will now repeat itself.
This summer Youri Tielemans has arrived from Anderlecht for £22.3m, Soualiho Meite from Zulte Waregem for £7m and Youssef Ait Bennasser has returned from his loan at Nancy.
So, despite Bakayoko’s departure, Monaco are well covered in the centre of the park.
Add in one-time Manchester City transfer target Adama Traore, Joao Moutinho and youth team prospect Kevin N’Doram and Monaco will almost be over-stocked if Brazilian Fabinho doesn’t complete a move to Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain or Atletico Madrid.
In attack is where Jardim’s problems could lie next season. Radamel Falcao has signed up until 2020 and the plan was to team him with Mbappe.
But PSG, Real Madrid, Barcelona and City are among those keen on the teen sensation.
Without the 18-year-old, Monaco would have to sign a goalscorer.
Potentially they’d have more £270m to lure someone to Monte Carlo so they could make one statement signing.
But that’s not how things operate at the Stade Louis II.
If Arsenal transfer target Thomas Lemar was to depart as well, the club’s three main attacking options will have moved on in one summer.
But Monaco are prepared and in Jordi Mboula, Allan Saint-Maximin, Rony Lopes and Gabriel Boschilia, they have four players, all 21 or under, ready to fill the void.
Many outsides were upset to see this talented Monaco side ripped apart by the highest bidders.
But with the exception of Mbappe, the others were all expected and planned for.
So this is not Monaco dropping off the radar. This is the start of a new chapter.
And if it’s anything like the last, that spells danger for the rest of Europe.