In the end it was not Radamel Falcao, Wayne Rooney or Carlos Tevez. Neither was it Dani Alves, Victor Valdes and Jackson Martinez. Instead Monaco’s first major foray into the transfer market this summer was to sign FC Porto duo James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho.
Two players so coveted by most of Europe’s big names being snapped up by a side just promoted to France’s top flight is in so many ways a perfect reflection of the way modern football is going. But for Monaco, it represents a key moment, announcing their arrival on the European stage. Most big names who are on the move this summer can expect to find themselves linked to the principality side who have now secured their return to French football’s elite under Claudio Ranieri. Even Liverpool outcast Andy Carroll has been talked of as a potential summer signing.
It is all thanks to Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian billionaire who decided to take over Monaco in the year of their relegation to Ligue 2, in 2011. He showed his ambition to get the team out of the second tier as soon as possible, securing the signing of Nabil Dirar. Few will have heard of Dirar, but the £6.3m it took to sign him from Club Brugge was a Ligue 2 record.
It is worth remembering that Monaco were bottom of Ligue 2 when Rybolovlev took over and the first season under his ownership was all about stability. That goal achieved, last summer they signed Jakob Poulsen and Emir Bajrami as the principality side looked to ensure they would achieve promotion. Duly achieved, next year the club will be aiming higher than simply survival. Most teams promoted a division are usually happy just to be there, to make up the numbers and live to fight in the same league for another season. No such thinking will be allowed to influence proceedings at Monaco.
Of course Monaco are not just another team winning promotion. They are the only French side to have reached a Champions League final since Marseille won the tournament in controversial circumstances 20 years ago. Monaco are intent on making their mark in Ligue 1 in their first season back, and it is an unspoken truth they are aiming for a Champions League spot behind Paris Saint-Germain. It is unlikely to come next season, or possibly even the year after, but there is every chance that they will get there eventually. But first the 2004 Champions League finalists need to find the right players, possibly a new manager, and most importantly of all, an agreement with the French league, who just so happen to have blocked Monaco’s entry into Ligue 1 for next season.
The reason for this is because of Monaco’s tax status. Only French nationals who have moved to Monaco, those living and earning in the principality, pay tax; all others do not. This state of affairs has irritated the French league and its clubs for years, as it means that Monaco can easily outbid Ligue 1 sides for top European players as they don’t have to worry about tax at all. The straw that has broken the camel’s back in this case is the millionaires tax brought in by Francois Hollande, the French president, requiring anyone earning that amount to pay 75% income tax. This tax caused uproar throughout French football, with warnings that leading stars would simply leave. That has proven true in large part – Yann M’Vila packed his bags for Russia, Moussa Sow went to Turkey and Marseille’s Loic Remy gave up Champions League football next year to be relegated with Queens Park Rangers in England. Faced with the prospect of a new team in the league who don’t have to worry about this millionaires tax, the simmering dispute with Monaco has been brought to a head, and the club were ordered to move their head office to France if they wanted to compete amongst the elite next season.
Monaco weren’t the only ones taken aback. UEFA’s French president Michel Platini, usually one for ensuring a fair financial footing for all, questioned the motives of the French league. "I find it a little difficult to understand", Platini said this week. "It’s as if French football always liked Monaco so long as they didn’t win."
It is certainly true that French teams could tolerate Monaco far more easily when they were going from crisis to crisis, president to president, manager to manager, during the financial instability that dogged the club for most of the last decade. But enriched and on the rise again, suddenly they are a threat.
Monaco have now launched legal action, believing that the French league cannot force them to move their headquarters, pointing out quite rightly that this is a violation of European and French law, which entrench the right to freedom of movement. However, as a sovereign city state, Monaco is neither part of France nor the European Union, and the club is playing in a league outside the principality’s borders, fundamentally weakening their bargaining and legal position.
The likely result of the impasse is a compromise. Monaco were relegated to Ligue 2 for amassing huge debts back in 2003, although they were later reinstated in time to reach the following season’s Champions League final. Like then, the French league will probably eventually give in a little, as will Monaco, and a compromise deal agreed. After all, with French football struggling as much as it is, a team like Monaco can boost its profile and brand overseas, particularly if they start signing the likes of Falcao. Monaco can also help French teams, as the trickle-down effect of them signing some of France’s best players will mean Ligue 1 teams can take more money from producing young stars. And for Monaco, they need a league to play in, so it is hard to imagine them not taking a step towards reconciliation too.
When that happens, it will be fascinating to see where Monaco go with their summer spending. The Falcao speculation was intriguinge because of the source – Sky Italia – the same source that had scooped news of Pep Guardiola’s decision to join Bayern Munich this summer. And the deal, which would supposedly give the Colombian the chance to move to Real Madrid, the club he supported as a child, in one year’s time, seems designed to avoid the controversial transfer that would be swapping Los Colchonorones for their city rivals.
Whether the forward signs or not, there are likely to be big names arriving. Billionaire owners from Manchester to Paris like to sign huge names to announce their arrival on the world stage and a Rooney or Tevez could provide the perfect opportunity to do just that. And for the world’s top players, being enticed by the riches on offer in Monaco and playing in Ligue 1, in the centre of Europe, is a lot more attractive than jetting off to China, the Middle East or Siberia. They may be at odds and on opposite sides of the courtroom right now, but Monaco seem set to be a fixture at the top of the French league for many years to come.
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