High prices, blocked situations, well-established players: why AS Monaco finds itself with an overloaded squad a week before the end of the transfer window

He's not sure he's happy about it, but Adi Hütter could boast of having the manpower to field three different teams at kickoff in a match at the start of the season. At the moment, and while the transfer window has yet to reveal all its truths, the Monaco coach has around thirty players up his sleeve and as many possibilities to attack a match.

If we include the young players under professional contract who took part in the preparation and even the match against Le Havre, the Rock has 33 players under contract when they travel to Lille. A fairly rare occurrence that promises headaches for a coach who isn't always keen on opening up the bench. "For the moment, the squad is too large, yes," the Austrian admitted at a press conference on Friday, before reiterating what he had already said after the first matchday. "But I was impressed by the players not called up (against Le Havre), they were truly professional. They never caused any problems in the locker room. We'll find a solution for everyone and we'll see what happens."

Lucas Michal, complicated case

For everyone, it's going to be complicated: if the transfer window closes on September 1st and things are likely to get out of hand, some files are stalling and players are getting impatient. As announced by L'Équipe , information that we can confirm, Lucas Michal would like to fly away to find playing time elsewhere but his management has closed the door on him.

Nantes (loan) and Brest (sale) have already put their offers on the table for a while, and the player now finds himself stuck with relatively little hope of playing time. Not selected for tonight's match, the 20-year-old winger is starting to lose patience and thus refused to play with the Elite squad yesterday. Also announced for a time on the way out and on the radar of several clubs, Kassoum Ouattara has also had the door closed to him, according to our information.

His situation differs from Michal's, however, as the full-back could be included in the rotation in support of Caio Henrique if Hütter decides to trust him. But according to some observers, the Prince's club's position sometimes lacks clarity on current issues and situations end up getting bogged down.

Overpriced?

The particularly high sums demanded for players like Maghnes Akliouche (70 million), Eliesse Ben Seghir (between 30 and 40) or Wilfried Singo (also between 30 and 40) may have put off interested clubs. The same goes for lesser-used youngsters like Magassa or Ilenikhena. As a result, ASM finds itself with a squad that is far too large and important players left on the sidelines at the weekend (see the report).

"The asking prices don't shock me, but it's the price these players are worth if you finish second in Ligue 1 close to Paris and you reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League," observes a market expert. "But now, you can't afford to ask for sums like that after such a season!" Which saw the Monegasques finish third in Ligue 1, 23 points behind PSG (!) and exit in the Champions League play-offs.

In the board's defense, some players feel comfortable on the Rock and don't seem inclined to commit to the first club that comes along (Breel Embolo, etc.). What is certain is that the slimming down operation will be complex in the next nine days. Especially since Adi Hütter will not be able to register more than 25 players on the list for the European Cup...