Monaco building toward being the best of the rest in Ligue 1 behind Paris Saint-Germain

The Monegasque outfit enter Champions League qualifiers this summer with heightened expectations

AS Monaco's summer started in inevitable fashion with Aurelien Tchouameni's transfer to Real Madrid for approximately $80 million being confirmed shortly after the Spanish giants' latest UEFA Champions League success. With that key piece of business out of the way after enjoying a price hike for the 22-year-old toward the end of last season, the principality outfit has relieved itself of any pressure to do further business for now and is diligently approaching the summer transfer window. 

Takumi Minamino has arrived from Liverpool for around $15 million after the Japan international was unable to build on a loan spell with Southampton which ended in 2021. The 22-year-old will add versatility to the Monaco attack either out wide or through the middle. Tchouameni will need replacing and Les Monegasques already tried to recruit Yves Bissouma before he joined Tottenham Hotspur from Brighton and Hove Albion while Leicester City's Boubakary Soumare is also a reported target for sporting director Paul Mitchell. Strahinja Pavlovic and Pietro Pellegri have been allowed to move on after struggling to realize their potential at Stade Louis II while veterans Cesc Fabregas and Djibril Sidibe have also left to raise further funds and lower the average age of the squad even more.

"We are very clear in our mindset," said Mitchell earlier this summer when preseason training got underway. "That is the same for every player. We have a shareholder who is very ambitious, and who wants the best for ASM. He wants a very competitive team; it is important for him. So, to let other players go would require very, very large offers, like the one that was made for Aurelien by Real."