EXCLUSIVE | Louis Saha on Ligue 1’s financial restraints: ‘In other European leagues it’s not at all as regulated.’

Then of course in the course of this season there have been key matches that Metz should have won but which they lost, home matches against direct relegation rivals where they didn’t show the necessary solidity. In a league like Ligue 1 you get punished for that – you only need four or five really poor performances like that and it’s the descent into hell. Well that has happened too often and it’s a cycle that has repeated itself. That’s the club’s problem.

I think that the issue of clubs needing to sell players as soon as they come through youth development is a Ligue 1 problem, because so many clubs have financial issues?

That’s very true. That’s why we end up with lots of feeder clubs. When you have an academy and you find yourself forced by necessity to play that selling game, then there is less stability. Whereas a club like AS Monaco, which is not a club known for its youth development with the same structures as a club like Metz, don’t have the same issues to contend with.

I’m not a specialist but if I try to put my finger on it, some do it very well, others not so well. It looks like FC Nantes may fall through the trapdoor too. But there are other clubs that manage to do it very well, like Stade Rennais. Three or four years ago, I saw Rennes being like Bordeaux in terms of big financial difficulty. Ligue 1 clubs are under a lot of financial pressure under the oversight of the DNCG [France’s football financial regulatory body] It’s extremely tough because it’s not regulated to the same extent in Europe – it’s not at all as regulated in other leagues. So French clubs inevitably get cleaned out and clubs like Metz, who have developed great links in Senegal or in other countries and manage to bring through super-talents then have to sell them. It’s a really tough game to play and that’s where you need to try to ensure your investment lasts not just three years but maybe four to five years. That’s what I think, with my modest level of knowledge anyway. I think it’s a real shame.

Louis Saha was talking exclusively to Get French Football News courtesy of Wiz Slots

GFFN | Jeremy Smith