ANOTHER football season is in the books, and the clubs now are looking to shore up their finances or boost their main squads on the transfer market. The biggest news here is the blockbuster transfer of Aurélien Tchouaméni from AS Monaco to Real Madrid FC for a sizeable sum of €100 million, including bonuses. The 22-year-old midfielder joined the Monégasque side from Bordeaux in January 2020 for just €18 million. Not only is the transfer of the Frenchman an early candidate for the record fee of this campaign, it also makes Monaco the first club in history to sell two players for €100 million or more. The first was no other than Kylian Mbappé, who left for PSG in 2017 following the Ligue 1-winning performance with the Monégasques for then-record €180 million. To this day, the deal is only second to PSG’s signing of Neymar for €222 million. Tchouaméni’s transfer now rounds up the top 10 biggest football deals of all time.
Over the past decade, Monaco showed the unique ability to align consistent success in Ligue 1 with making headlines in the transfer market. The princely club has a clear strategy of discovering exceptional youth talent for the subsequent development and sale. Monaco isn’t the only club to do so, Ajax, Porto and Benfica follow virtually the same blueprint. But no one has been able to develop and market players of Mbappé’s caliber while consistently reaching the podium of a top European league like the Monégasques.
Interestingly, that strategy was actually born out of necessity. The Principality of Monaco itself is very small, so the princely club cannot rely on live gate or merchandise sales like teams from Paris, London or Madrid. Club owner and president Dmitry Rybolovlev recognized that very early. The source of his fortune is Uralkali, one of the biggest fertilizer producers in the world. But running a major private enterprise in Russia was getting more difficult by the day, and Rybolovlev was ultimately put under pressure to sell his Russian assets to oligarchs with close links to the Kremlin, and leave the country. His personal story offers stark contrast with the fate of a fellow Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich who continues to own assets and do business in Russia without any headwinds from the Kremlin, but was forced to sell London-based Chelsea FC under pressure from public opinion in Britain.
Rybolovlev moved to Monaco in 2010 and the local football team he bought for a symbolic €1 soon became his passion. The storied club was laden with financial problems and was desperately fighting for survival in the bottom of Ligue 2 at the time of Rybolovlev’s arrival. He had to spend heavily on the club to help it regain former shine, bringing the likes of Radamel Falcao and James Rodríguez to the club. But simply buying Monaco’s way back into the elite wasn’t up to Rybolovlev’s ambitions. Apparently, making the Monégasques sustainable and high-achieving at the same time was seen as a true victory by him. Overall, Monaco spent a total of €758 million euros on signings since returning to the top French division in 2014. But the €1.064 billion in proceeds from sales made up for this and then some. It’s also worth noting that Rybolovlev so far hasn’t withdrawn a cent from the club and re-invests the profit.
In football, tactically adept head coaches and their star players are often credited with success. It’s still true for Monaco, of course. Coach Leonardo Jardim, for example, led the team to the first Ligue 1 title in 17 years in 2016/2017 season.
Sporting directors like Luis Campos or, more recently, Paul Mitchell helped create on the most efficient scouting systems in football today. But as executives and players came and gone, Rybolovlev was the only one who constantly remained at the helm. He knew his strategy was right for the club and was willing to commit his money and take time finding the right people to make it work. It was, of course, his decision to invest dozens of millions in Monaco’s Performance Center to equip it with state of art facilities and implement the best practices in players’ training, fitness and health. Under Rybolovlev, Monaco discovered and marketed the likes of Thomas Lemar, who joined from SM Caen for €4 million and subsequently sold to Athletico Madrid for €72 million; Anthony Martial joined from Lyon for €5 million, sold to Manchester United for €60 million; and Bernardo Silva signed from Benfica for €15.75 million and transferred to Man City for €50 million. It’s plain to see Monaco’s ability to unlock potential and add value to the players is truly remarkable.
That said, Rybolovlev was not immune to mistakes by any means. For instance, Michael Emenalo joined Monaco from Chelsea FC as a technical director in 2017 but ultimately didn’t live up to expectations. But the Russian owner had no problems owning up to his mistakes in order to quickly to adapt and make the necessary adjustments. That helped him earn respect of the red-and-white fanbase, which is small but very vocal and ardent, even as supporters of others European teams grew wary of their clubs’ billionaire owners.
Rybolovlev never shied away from tough decisions and fired executives when he felt they were responsible for dwindling results, even if it meant parting ways with old personal friends. That’s how vice-president Vadim Vasilyev was removed in early 2019 amid poor results. Monaco finished 2018/19 campaign in 17th, the lone blemish on otherwise very strong decade for the club. Since returning to the premier French division 9 years ago, they rose to the podium as many as seven times. Even amid the football upheaval caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the Monégasques managed to finish in 3rd twice, including the just-concluded season capped with the lucrative Tchouaméni deal. The depth of change Monaco squad undergoes each season makes this feat even more impressive.
No wonder other clubs are now looking to replicate Monaco’s approach. Lille OSC’s recent championship-winning performance is one good example. Only time will tell whether they are able to build on this success. To match the scope of Rybolovlev’s Monaco turnaround, one would have to comprehensively transform the team according to their vision, and have the right people, resources and strength of will to see it through.
