A rough ending but enough was done up to that point. A summer of recruitment to get ready for Europe awaits.
Bordeaux Complete Stadium Purchase
After a successful season under Conor McDonald, the Bordeaux directors have finalised the purchase of the club’s stadium, Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux – also known as Matmut Atlantique.
The deal has set the club back €87,000,000 to buy the stadium that was costing them €3,300,000 per year to rent as their home stadium.
The stadium was constructed in April 2015 after two-and-a-half years of work to build the ground. The first match played in the stadium was Bordeaux versus Montpellier on 23rd May 2015.
Housing 42,115 spectators inside, the new stadium was selected as one of the European Championship stadiums in 2016, hosting five matches including a quarter-final fixture.
The stadium costed €183,000,000 to construct when the architects Herzog & de Meuron in November 2012 and due to the funding grants, the stadium was owned by the City of Bordeaux.
The American club owner Joseph DaGrosa stood alongside Managing Director Frédéric Longuépée and Manager Conor McDonald as he addressed the fans of the club outside the stadium following the news breaking.
DaGrosa:
“I can’t tell you how delighted we all are to stand here today as the proud owners of the club’s own stadium. The ground has been a beautiful monument to toast the success of Bordeaux throughout history.
“With myself, Frédéric and Conor, we all look forward to further success on the pitch for Bordeaux and for the French national team who will occasionally use the stadium for home matches.”
Bordeaux will now be able to expand their stadium and improve functional facilities such as the corporate boxes to their own desires without having to consult the city council to discuss such improvements.
Scott: Definitely not how we wanted to end the season and I was on the edge of my seat looking at the Monaco score!
Seb: Back to the UCL for the first time in nearly two decades, they can't complain
Excellent news of the stadium purchase for numerous reasons you have already mentioned. Owning your own stadium sets you up nicely to rake in extra matchday income which will only benefit the club in the long run!
The stadium will now truly feel and belong to the football club and its supporters. Reassuring to know that there is a permanent home there.
Abboubi and Pruvost Return on Loan
As contracts with clubs begin to expire, the loan deals involving Juventus’ Khalid Abboubi and Chelsea’s Stéphane Pruvost at Bordeaux have been renewed for the 2026/27 campaign.
Both players started their careers in France with Abboubi coming through the Nimes Olympique ranks before a move to Italy. Pruvost was Bordeaux’s own product before the sale to Chelsea in summer 2023.
Abboubi, now 19 years old, made 34 Ligue 1 appearances for Bordeaux in Conor McDonald’s first season at the club.
From left-back he scored one goal and assisted nine times in total.
The central midfielder Pruvost was not as intensively involved as Abboubi last season but still contributed a lot to his boyhood club.
Pruvost made 15 appearances for Bordeaux before his move to Chelsea but whilst on loan last season, the €35million-rated midfielder made 18 starts in the league, picking up two Man of the Match awards.
Bordeaux qualified for the UEFA Champions League last season, finishing in 3rd place behind Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais. The renewal of Pruvost’s second spell at the club means that he fills a quota of homegrown players at the club before the age of 21 years old in European competitions.
Seb: It will definitely be a money-saver with the rights to expand when we need to as well as not having to pay rent.
Scott: Absolutely, it is a relatively new construction so growing an affinity with a new home is hard enough when you don't own the thing.
Some fantastic moves for the club on and off the park, feels like Conor is just easing himself into the transfer market before going absolutely mental. Scary that Pruvost is rated at €35m when he's played sod all football really, hopefully he'll run his contract down so that he can return to his boyhood club as a HGC player on a freebie 
Glad to see that you'll be keeping the core of the squad from last season for another year with the renewal of these two loanees.
Good to see the HG quota is filled already and that allows Conor to go out and spend what he has on some real upgrades. Looking forward to seeing who comes in.
Striking Duo Shown the Door by McDonald
Norwich City and Strasbourg have both made their first moves of the transfer window as they pick up a Bordeaux striker each.
Andrea Favilli went from a first-team starter at Bordeaux to more of an option from the bench under the new management of Conor McDonald in 2025/26.
Before McDonald, he had made 58 appearances over two seasons under two different managers since his €5.5million arrival from Juventus. However, last season he only managed six starts and six substitute appearances – only scoring two goals in the process.
He joins the English Premier League outfit Norwich City for a fee of €10,250,000 with hopes of becoming an important first-team player at a top-flight club again.
The 17-year-old striker Abdellah Faraj also made his way out of Nouvelle Stade de Bordeaux, joining Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace for a €3.5million fee.
Bordeaux fans were left slightly disappointed in Faraj’s move as they thought he had more to offer at the club he came through the academy at despite only making one first-team appearance in the Coupe de France for Bordeaux.
Faraj takes the number six shirt at Strasbourg as many expect him to play more first-team football this season.
James: McDonald really is tired of carrying Chelsea's best midfielder's career on his back.
Scott: They were both equally important players last time and they will be once again!
Seb: Indeed, we love a homegrown at club player
Two more outgoing and the fans may feel aggrieved that an academy product has been moved on. However, they should keep the faith that Conor knows what he is doing after all the success he had at Cobh and the great start he has made here.
Bordeaux Confirm Five End of Contract Arrivals
Girondins de Bordeaux have announced the arrivals of five new players at the end of their respective contracts elsewhere.
Four first-team players are part of the bulk purchase which includes one Frenchman.
Perhaps the deal that catches the eye most is the arrival of Manchester United’s 22-year-old striker Darren Wright on a five-year deal.
Wright joined The Red Devils from Charlton for £3,800,000 in 2020 and after a successful season in the development leagues for Man United in 2024/25, he signed a one-year long loan deal with German Bundesliga outfit Freiburg.
Freiburg paid €1,600,000 to take Wright on for the season as they finished 10th in the top-flight as Darren Wright found his feet in first-team football, bagging 13 goals in 28 games – just short of one goal every two games.
Bordeaux’s second attacking signing came from a fellow Ligue 1 club as AS Monaco’s Juan Manuel Gutiérrez signed a three-year deal.
The Uruguayan international made his move to France from Danubio FC in his home nation. However, whilst under contract at Monaco, Gutiérrez did not get much opportunity in the red and white shirt.
He was immediately loaned out to Ligue 1’s Stade Rennais upon his arrival in 2020, scoring 7 goals in 14 games – only including 3 starts – meaning that he had one of the league’s best goals per minute records.
For the past five seasons, Gutiérrez has been on loan to the Uruguayan champions Penarol and he has been a roaring success back in his native country. Over the past five seasons of Uruguayan top-flight football, Gutiérrez has scored 45 goals in just 57 games, maintaining one of the best scoring records in the country and retrieving the title from Club Nacional de Football and returning it to Penarol.
Rated highly in his home country and France, he is reportedly valued at €22million with Bordeaux fans expecting big things from their new number 8.
Upon the news that Manchester City would refuse to loan out their Georgian-born striker Tornike Kavelashvili to Bordeaux for the 2026/27 season, McDonald turned his attention back to France, ensuring the free transfer of Ligue 2 side Auxerre’s Léo Marguet.
Graduating through Auxerre’s academy in 2020, Marguet made his Ligue 1 debut in 2021 as a late substitute.
With two more seasons spent in Auxerre’s 2nd Team, Marguet firmly put himself as Auxerre’s starting striker in 2023 following the club’s relegation to Ligue 2.
Since 2023, Marguet has made 98 first-team appearances and scored 30 times for AJ Auxerre before his contract expired this summer.
Bordeaux’s only non-striker signing was the Italian attacking midfielder Gaetano Di Paolo from Serie A outfit AC Milan.
Di Paolo came through the famed Milan academy in 2022 and made his first-team debut as a substitute in the 2022/23 season. The 6’5” number 10 only played a handful of first-team matches for I Rossoneri before being loaned out last season to the Portuguese top-flight side Pacos de Ferreira.
His loan move produced some good moments on the field with Di Paolo’s physical presence playing a big part in his style of play but the statistics did not reflect that as much, finishing the campaign with only 3 goals in 28 games as his team finished in 7th place in Liga NOS.
The final free transfer of the 1st July brought out one of Conor McDonald’s favourite scouting tactics from his time at Cobh – scouring the lower tiers of Spanish football for youngsters.
This time, Spanish 16-year-old Denzell Carrión was spotted playing for Orientación Marítima in the Spanish Under-19 divisions, scoring five goals in nine games for the Lanzarote-based team.
The only other piece of incoming business on this date was the confirmation of €1,000,000 signing of 1. Koln’s 16-year-old Marcel Kunze after he played 9 games for the Bundesliga team’s 2nd team.
Four Bordeaux players were released as free agents meanwhile another four reserve players found new clubs, including Samuel Robert’s free transfer to Montpellier.
Seb: Faraj was never going to be anymore than a squad player regardless of if he stayed for the next ten years or the next ten days. He's a loss but it won't impact the first-team much.
Wow, that is some talent entering the door all on free deals. Conor going back to his roots at Cobh in bringing these in. Excellent work!
Two More Loanees for Bordeaux
Following the initial returns of former loanees Khalid Abboubi and Stéphane Pruvost, Conor McDonald has secured two more first-team loans for the 2026/27 season.
The first of the two new players was Paris Saint-Germain’s young left-winger Benjamin Dupont with Bordeaux paying 100% of his €39,000 per week contract at Parc des Princes.
Dupont has only played a handful of first-team games in the French capital but he has impressed with Paris’ 2nd Team who play in the Championnat National 2 Groupe B. With them, Dupont has scored 31 goals in 61 games.
Last season he earned a loan move to Serie A side Brescia Calcio and became a key player for them, making 29 starts and scoring 3 goals from left wing.
The most recent arrival on loan was the signing of Liverpool’s French centre-back Faycal Benahmed as Bordeaux agreed to pay 100% of his €15,000 per week wage at Anfield.
Since coming through Nantes academy as a youngster, Benahmed has failed to play a first-team game for any of his clubs despite becoming an important reserve team player for Nantes.
Liverpool paid £4,500,000 for the centre-back last season where he made 37 appearances for the Under-23s.
However, this loan move to the Champions League team could be a golden opportunity for the rapid 19-year-old defender, though he could find himself lower in the pecking order than first thought.
Scott: I'm particularly looking forward to seeing Darren Wright!
Seb: Indeed, the free transfers always seem to follow Conor around - he's a cheapskate at heart
You are reading "Conor McDonald: The Student".
