Wherever Lille ends up on the Ligue 1 table come May 2022, one thing will be certain: that team will be just a shadow of it’s former self. After a magnificent 2020 season, when they beat the odds and ended up champions ahead of PSG, the team from Northern France faced difficult financial year, even with money from the Champions League and the sale soon began. After losing coach Cristoph Gautiler (Nice), keeper Mike Maignan (AC Milan) and Baubakary Soumare (Leicester), the team still managed to advance to the Champions League knockout stage, but that was not the end.French champions in danger of losing three key players in JanuaryIt was announced just days ago that one of the attacking duo David – Ikone is leaving the club in January. A deal has been struck in principle between Lille and Fiorentina for former PSG youngster Jonathan Ikone. After 146 appearances for ‘Les Dogues’, and 16 goals in three and a half seasons, it’s time to go. Fiorentina managed to secure his signature for around 2 billion Ksh and a 10% of any future sale. And now, a new shock – Jonathan David announced his departure in June 2022.The man who engineers championship-winning teamsThe current Ligue 1 top scorer (11 goals) was also expected to leave at some point, but his agent felt the need to announce it now, just before the January transfer window.“For us, the goal is to finish the season with Lille, but this will be his last season there for several reasons. I think the Premier League is a great option for him. I think he likes Spain a lot too… These two leagues are the main priorities for him, but nothing is being ruled out. You never know with Paris Saint-Germain or the big Italian clubs. It’s normal that all these big clubs are interested in the top scorer in Ligue 1, but I can tell you that, today, there’s no official offer. I can’t say the price today. It’s down to Lille. But in the end, that’s football. Jonathan isn’t going to show it, but he knows he is one of the best young forwards in the world. There’s also Erling Haaland who could cost between 75m and 100m euros. If you want to be part of that list, you have to learn to manage the pressure” said David’s agent.And since Renato Sanches and Sven Botman are all but destined to leave in June, the current champion will be without six of it’s first 11 players who defeated PSG in Paris in April 2021…LIGUE 1 ROUND 19Wednesday23:00 Monaco – Stade Rennais23:00 Bordeaux – Lille OSC23:00 Clermont Foot 63 – Strasbourg23:00 Lorient – Paris Saint-Germain23:00 Montpellier – Angers23:00 Nice – RC Lens23:00 Olympique de Marseille – Stade de Reims23:00 Olympique Lyonnais – Metz23:00 Saint-Etienne – FC Nantes23:00 Troyes – Stade Brestois 29***odds are subject to change
