Red Bull In Paris : RB Paris

January would present Patrice Evra with his first fixture crunch, the possibility of seven games in one month would put the team’s fitness and depth to the test. Getting that full schedule meant winning at least two games in the Coupe de France, there won’t be many Championnat National teams left so the likelihood that Evra ends up across from a much better team would be good.

“We are excited, well rested, we are ready to put Valenciennes behind us” said Evra prior to facing Le Havre FC in the 9th round.

Putting Valenciennes behind them would be a small yet important step, prior to the break the 1-0 loss broke a twelve game unbeaten run that ended with eight straight wins. It also helped that the loss was at Stade Sébastien Charléty, the same venue for Le Havre FC, so a good win would exorcise some ghosts.

As things turned out, RB Paris was ready to return to their winning ways and it extended well beyond Le Havre FC. An emphatic 4-0 win would earn a draw against Montpellier in the 10th round, a game that would see Wilson Isidor score yet again along with a Julien Lopez double. Lopez would earn PoM honors thanks to his two goals and the assist on Isidor’s game, a textbook example of what Evra has been trying to develop with the AS Monaco loanee crashing the back post to head in a cross from Lopez. The big win would come with a serious downside, LB Florin Hanin would suffer a hip injury that early reports had him missing up to seven months with. RB Paris announced that he would be sent to a specialist and the timetable on his return would be adjusted to four months, things seemed even worse as Evra had allowed Marcel Lavinier to go out on loan so LB was now razor thin.
The Hanin news was little more than a speed bump as RB Paris thumped SM Caen 3-1 in Ligue 2, Lopez would score again with Diaby-Fadiga getting back on the scoresheet. This was a comprehensive win even with SM Caen’s Caleb Zady Sery scoring at 68’ to make it 2-1, 63% to 37% possession advantage made it very difficult for the hosts to come back and a stoppage time goal from Cody Drameh made it impossible. Montpellier would put up even less resistance in a 3-0 win in the 10th round of the Coupe de France, a fortunate draw as the Ligue 1 side was in the midst of a terrible season that might have them swap places with RB Paris in Ligue 2.

That initial run of great results must have used up all of RB Paris’ energy as the good times came to a screeching halt over the span of three games. First a 2-2 draw with EA Guingamp where Les Taureaux were able to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead before giving up a goal to Yannick Gomis on a set piece to give the visitors a point. That would be followed up by a 1-1 draw with RC Lens that saw a tight 1-0 lead evaporate at 88’ when Ousmane Kanté clobbered Corentin Jean in the box well away from the ball for a controversial penalty. Two limp results rolled right into the revenge of SM Caen, still sore about the 3-1 league loss, that saw a depleted and exhausted RB Paris fall apart in extra time. A tightly contested 1-1 draw, with SM Caen leading most of the game, went into extra time after Kanté seemed to redeem himself with a 78’ goal to bring the score level. Extra time was a completely different story, a flat and disinterested RB Paris side would surrender twice in a three minute span and Jessy Deminguet would add a third at 120’ to close out a satisfying 4-1 win for the hosts. Evra was clearly upset over the extra time performance, a frustrating end to their Coupe de France run.

“I blame myself as much as the players” admitted Evra after the game “we played a lot, I could have tried to rest our players more, but we gave up. Yes, we were tired, but giving up is not acceptable.”

Getting eliminated from the Coupe de France wouldn’t be the only wound suffered. RB Costinha would be taken off just before the half with a cut on his leg, RB Paris would announce that his injury would keep him out for up to two weeks. Evra has worked hard to build depth and skill at wing back, but at this rate he won’t have anyone left.

While getting dumped out of the domestic cup would leave the team disappointed, it wouldn’t last long. RB Paris had one more burst of energy, perhaps taking out their frustration on Grenoble, a 5-2 win would close out the month to keep things on track in Ligue 2. Evra’s side would explode on offense, with Diaby-Fadiga and Florian Martin lodging doubles, but they would also continue to be weak on set pieces. Both of Grenobles goals would come off them, neither of them corners, something that doesn’t seem important when you score five but will be concerning against better teams. Diaby-Fadiga’s double would pull him into joint 2nd in Ligue 2 with (9), still well back of Rodez Aveyron’s Pape Sané with (12).

February should be much easier with no Coupe de France games to deal with, four fixtures ending in a touch rematch with FC Metz will give the squad time to recover.

Crucially picking up wins and avoiding defeat, although the results against Guingamp and Lens probably deserved all three points rather than the single points you gained. A shame to crash out the cup like you did.

A tired squad would head into this month with a bit of silver lining, the exhausted and injured wing backs would create an opening for someone the club feels could be a star in the future. With Cody Drameh being used on the left more and more Danny Malitoli was called up from RB Paris 2 and given his senior squad debut against A.S. Béziers to open the month.

A.S. Béziers proved to be an easy win, the 2-1 final looked more respectable after a Luc Polizzi stoppage time goal at 90+3’, with the real bonus being an FC Metz loss on the same day. The win put RB Paris in 1st by a single point with FC Metz enjoying a game in hand, but their loss would squander that advantage and put Les Taureux in the driver's seat.

“There is still plenty of football to play” said Evra when asked about being on top of the league “nobody outside of the club thought we could be here, but we will need to work twice as hard to stay here.”

The more fatalistic fans can point to Evra’s statement as a jinx, with the team putting up a limp 0-0 result against AC Ajaccio, but an easy 1-0 win over US Concarnoise would follow and keep RB Paris on top of Ligue 2. All of that jostling for position would set up a bigger-than-expected game with FC Metz to close out the month. The top two teams in the league facing off would drive quite a bit of excitement, with both teams headed in opposite directions Les Grenats could really use a victory here.

Rémi Garde’s attempt to rescue his season would go horribly wrong at Stade Sébastien Charléty. Florian Martin would miss the game through injury, so it seemed like FC Metz had an opening, but Evra wouldn’t need him after such a poor performance by the visitors. Lamine Diaby-Fadiga, Julian Lopez, and Danny Malitoli with his first senior goal would combine for a 3-0 first half lead. Diaby-Fadiga and Lopez would add to their total in the first half to crush FC Metz 5-0 and extend their lead at the top to five points. Diaby-Fadiga’s double would also pull him level with Pape Sané at (15) to make them joint top scorers in Ligue 2.

As Evra noted there is a lot of football left to play, but the win over FC Metz really put RB Paris above the pack. FC Metz, still in second, finds themself falling into a scrum for promotion with just three points separating them and Amiens SC in 5th. A few teams are lurking just outside the promotion zone so anyone from 2nd to 5th who has a few bad results could find themselves on the outside looking in.

For those who find RB Paris’ form too good to believe, there would be a small opening for them to feel good about their synopsis. Wilson Isidor would open the month with a neck strain in practice that would rule him out for nearly two weeks, this would allow Morgan Guilavogui to move into the starting RW slot as Patrice Evra slowly ran out of options.

Turns out that losing one of your best scorers has no impact on your ability to run roughshod over your competition. A 4-0 win over Le Mans FC, with Lamine Diaby-Fadiga and Danny Malitoli scoring again, combined with a 2-0 win over Le Havre FC would create a five game streak of shutting out their opponent. The now seven game unbeaten run would put RB Paris (9) clear in 1st as the rest of the league seemed to fall victim to late season exhaustion.

Les Taureux would just keep going with a 2-1 win over Niort and a 1-1 draw with US Orléans to end the month. Niort managed to make it more respectable with a late goal, on a set piece of course, and the US Orléans result had a silver lining as January signing Conrad Wallem would score at 87’ to rescue their unbeaten run.

The offense has definitely driven most of the headlines around the team, but the secret to their late season surge has been their defense. Yes, they are known for tough defensive play that pushes the limit on discipline, but Evra seems to be developing a more English sensibility on defense. His players are aggressive on defense and tackle hard, something that some have criticized him for, but the proactive approach to getting the ball back has helped to fuel the highest possession percentage in the league along with an amazing shots taken to shots allowed advantage. Perhaps it is luck that has allowed RB Paris to prevent their bookings from turning into sendings off like early on in the season, but at this rate it could seal the title.

Looking well on course for promotion! Keep this form going.

To be blunt, Red Bull GmbH inherited a near derelict youth system. The RB Paris 2 squad is barely a Championnat National 3 side and doesn’t have any players who might be able to play in Ligue 1, let alone Ligue 2, in the near future. The U-19 side is in a similar situation and will be the target of RB Paris’ rebuild effort. The mid-season transfer window was a little preview of the kind of spending spree the club is going to go on in an attempt to improve the system from the ground up.

Kévin Blanc (LB - France) : A dream signing for Patrice Evra, not just because he looks to be very talented but because he can bring all of his playing experience to the table. Blanc was likely drawn to RB Paris thanks to the new association with Red Bull and a clear path to the senior squad. The LB is fast, passes well, and has experience working as an attacking wing back. He crosses well enough and is a passable defender at the moment, once the coaches can settle down with him he could be one of the best players in the organization. He doesn’t have too much competition right now, but at the club continues to invest in youth players he may find things more difficult.

Mourad Benzia (CB - France) : Another good signing who definitely has senior squad upside especially at the Ligue 2 level. He will need to develop to his full potential to be considered a Ligue 1 player. A quick natural central defender who makes up for his lack of height with skill on the ball. Evra will probably feel better about him paired with a taller central defender who can sit back, Benzia might be more at home as a Libero but coaches will work hard to turn him into a ball playing defender.

Ludovic Lagin (RW - Martinique) : A rare prospect from Martinique, but definitely a rising star. He stood out quickly in Fort-de-France and still managed to rise to the top after moving to Paris. He isn’t the paciest winger but makes up for it with technical skill and positional savvy. His unnatural ability to be in the right place at the right time has helped him be one of the most prolific scorers wherever he goes, hopefully he can continue this trend for RB Paris.

With two months left in the season, just seven games remaining, Patrice Evra would have to hold his team to a level of performance few had expected. The return of Floren Hanin would be a major boost to the squad, not just because LB was so thin but because Evra would need as many veterans on the field as possible. Blowing a large lead would be all to easy if the team lost their concentration and it would be hard for everyone if the team fall apart so close to the end.

A 2-1 win over AJ Auxerre would help ease tensions, but it wasn’t easy after RB Paris made things hard on themselves. Samuel Souprayen would score at 18’ on a corner, no surprise there as Evra continued to have issues defending set pieces, and then Evra would have to spur his team on to climb out of the hole. Cristian Ferreira would pull them level at 26’ and the team would fight through a well played game by AJ Auxerre before Conrad Wallem would score at 89’ to win it. This was an odd game for RB Paris as the hosts managed an even 50-50 split in possession but were only able to muster (5) shots. RB Paris took (16), but today they were brutally efficient and (12) found Mathieu Michel in goal. Michel had a great game with double-digit saves, but some might say AJ Auxerre were lucky to keep this one close.

The next game, an easy 3-1 win over promotion challenger Amiens SC, would see veteran Florian Martin score a goal as well as an assist while helping clinch a promotion playoff spot. Still firmly in 1st, Evra would have an enormous amount of pressure taken off his shoulders knowing they would at least make the playoff if they have a late season collapse.

“It’s certainly an accomplishment for our team, nobody picked us for promotion so being here right now is great” said Evra after the game “but again, we still have many games to play.”

The next two games brought Ligue 1 even closer as FC Metz went into total collapse. A 1-0 win against Sochaux would set a new record for team wins with (21), more importantly it would move them nine points clear of RC Lens who had moved into second. With only four games remaining their next matchup with Clermont could decide the title. A draw with Clermont is all RB Paris needed to clinch the league, and that’s exactly what they got in a tepid 0-0 game that couldn’t have been more forgettable. To make things even easier RC Lens fell apart that afternoon and lost 4-1 to Niort to have the title to RB Paris. The misery in Metz would deepen as the club would plummet from 2nd to 5th over the course of a single month as Amiens SC and SM Caen, who would use a string of victories to do it, would jump over FC Metz into playoff spots.

Evra could also feel good about RB Paris’ defending. Once suspect, and ranked 19th, their defense is now 3rd best in the league and if you could somehow ignore the first month or so might just be the best. If Evra can fix their issues on set pieces they might be more than ready to survive in Ligue 1.

Another brilliant month of results!

With their first Ligue 2 title already in hand and at least one season in Ligue 1 in their future the final three games of the year were more of a victory lap. Two of the remaining games would feature teams within striking distance of the playoffs, especially if FC Metz continued to implode, so Valenciennes and Rodez Aveyron wouldn’t lay down and die for the champions. The last thing left for RB Paris to fight for would be holding the league’s top offense, and seeing if Lamine Diaby-Fadiga could claim the scoring title for himself. The final game against Rodez Aveyron could be a battle for the scoring title with Pape Sané, Diaby-Fadiga would have the advantage of avoiding the RB Paris defense.

Nancy, mired in the middle of the table, would put up token resistance in a 3-0 win that saw the visitors starting to pack up before the final whistle had blown. The interest in Valenciennes also waned after opening the month with a 1-1 draw with Sochaux, killing their chances of getting into the playoff, and it showed on the field with a 2-0 loss to RB Paris. Diaby-Fadiga would score late in the game to make their final game interesting, both Diaby-Fadiga and Sané would enter the game tied at (19) Ligue 2 goals.

“Yes, I feel pressure to score” said Diaby-Fadiga prior to their last game “not just to be first, to help us win, to carry through to the end of the season. Nobody on the team wants to finish the season with a loss.”

What could very easily have been a dead rubber, thanks to Rodez Aveyron finding themselves a point back of FC Metz in 5th and needing a win to seal it, turned into a very exciting game. João Paulo would score a little after halftime to make it 1-0, making it seem like the game was over, and then all hell broke loose at 82’. Diaby-Fadiga would knock in his 20th league goal on a wonderful through ball from Cristian Ferreira as Sané continued to have an awful day with João Paulo all over him. Rodez Aveyron’s David Douline would catch RB Paris napping on a corner at 90’ and suddenly the momentum would flip in their favor. The 2-1 felt significantly less secure than the earlier 1-0 score, and Rodez Aveyron went all out in an attempt to unsettle RB Paris. An aggressive attack in stoppage time would blow up in their face, with everyone forward Florent Hanin would intercept a pass and get it forward to Conrad Wallem. He would rush down the left and cross to an unmarked Wilson Isidor who would easily head it in from the post as the back line desperately tried to recover. The 90+3’ goal would kill off the game and Sané would never get a chance to even the score with Diaby-Fadiga.

An incredible end to an improbable season, Patrice Evra would now need to transition from getting through his first season as manager to his first season as a manager in Ligue 1.

Promotion to Ligue 1, retirements, and expiring contracts point to a whirlwind of change at RB Paris not to mention the minor level of chaos that surrounds rebranding a club. Patrice Evra made it look easy, winning the league by fifteen points after being picked to finish mid-table, but the next step will be far from easy. RB Paris still have significant financial restrictions compared to other clubs in Ligue 2, let alone Ligue 1, so improvements in the club won’t happen overnight.

On the field, RB Paris had an exceptional season and there is no doubt they deserved to win the league. The (73) goals scored is a new team record, a big chuck of that helped fuel a Ligue 2 record unbeaten run of (19) games to close out the season. Florian Martin, silently a very key member of the team, also set a new team record with (10) PoM awards. Despite all of the complaining early on Anthony Maisonnal would set a new team record for shutouts with (15), the defense certainly helped him out but at times he showed he was ready to be RB Paris’ keeper of the future. Lamine Diaby-Fadiga didn’t set any records, but his (20) league goals was enough to top Ligue 2 and show that Evra’s faith in the teenager was justified. Evra would be overlooked for the Coach of the Year Award, losing to Franck Haise of RC Lens, but he should be under consideration for next year as long as he doesn’t get sacked.

Evra will have some increased leeway next season as inside sources report that the club has made a modest increase to payroll, rumored to be somewhere around €50K a week, and opened up €4M in transfer funds. While that doesn’t seem like much it’s a massive step up from depending on free transfers and having to let good players walk rather than signing them to new contracts.

There are also reports that Red Bull GmbH is looking into infrastructure improvements for both the youth and senior squads, important moves that need to be made if the club is going to be able to rely on promoting youth players. Evra has the summer to rebuild the squad for Ligue 1 while trying to find openings for youth prospects, the team will likely be aggressive on the loan market but will need to transition from developing other clubs’ youth players to their own.

Another layer of change that is fueling the rumor mill is the General Manager position. With Frédéric Hébert’s contract expiring and no news of a new one there could be some turnover in the front office and possibly the coaching staff. Evra retained most of the staff with limited hires to fill in open positions, but this offseason could see a number of new faces on and off the field.





Much like the mid-season stats it’s easy to see where RB Paris’ winning ways came from. Diaby-Fadiga managed to put Wilson Isidor away in the goals department while the RW developed quite a talent for finding Julian Lopez and Conrad Wallem on the left. It’s too bad that someone who contributed (12) goals and (8) assists is going back to AS Monaco, it’s going to be hard for Evra to replace his production in Ligue 1.

Cristian Ferreira and Florian Martin fueled the offense up the middle, with Ferreira getting a number of his assists on corners, giving Evra the much needed attacking dimension while trying to play sideline to sideline. There is definitely room for improvement with the wing backs, if Evra can get them further up and delivering crosses RB Paris should see improved scoring from the wingers.

Ousmane Kanté and João Paulo may have proven that Evra knows what he’s doing on corners, the two added to their goal total with Kanté finishing tied for 4th on the team. This kind of scoring doesn’t happen by accident over the course of an entire season, RB Paris is going to need to keep this up if they are going to survive in Ligue 1.

Things are moving very fast in Paris, Red Bull GmbH is still working in the shadow of PSG but things are going in the right direction. Barging into Ligue 1 after only a single season in Ligue 2 has set up a bit of a “noisy neighbor” scenario, but Patrice Evra will still need to work hard to keep the club in Ligue 1 before they can set unsettling PSG as a goal.

The club is sticking to a plan of incremental improvements despite being owned by multi-billionaires, they are also aware of political tensions that could be inflamed by a more bombastic approach to the market. The relationship between Qatar and Bahrain is contentious enough that RB Paris would like to avoid taking shots at PSG, it’s more likely the club will refrain from antagonizing the Qatari owned club in an effort to ‘stick to sports’ and respect their Bahraini investors. This doesn’t mean they are comfortable being the baby brother, the club that joined with Stade Saint-Germain in 1970 to form PSG only to be split off just two years later. Since that split the clubs have gone in very different directions.

With more changes to come, on and off the field, Evra will have his hands full trying to keep the club up while maintaining the level of play achieved toward the last half of last season. It remains to be seen how much power Evra has over the shape of the club, it looks like a fairly even split at the moment with ownership taking a firmer grip on reshaping the staff with Evra having more input on the players. So far the balance seems to be working, there have been rumors of a staffing shake up, but as long as the team keeps winning or playing well in an attempt to win there shouldn’t be any substantial changes.

You can’t really say the axe fell hard at RB Paris, nobody was fired, but anyone with an expiring contract was not offered a new one as Red Bull GmbH began reshaping the club on all levels with new hires. The most notable employees that were not retained were Frédéric Hébert (General Manager), Stéphane Gilli (Assistant Coach), Jean-Luc Ruty (Head of Youth Development), and Rachid Khlifi (Head Scout). Hébert did some incredible work last year, the signing of Cristian Ferreira was key to the team winning Ligue 2, but ownership is aiming higher and wants to bring in more experienced people. There is no doubt the club will expand the staff on hand over time, a number of sources within the club have voiced dissatisfaction with staff members serving two roles (coach & scout) and a push to specialize is no doubt underway.

The staff members who were not retained were quickly replaced by people with a fairly common theme. The first hire, before Hébert had barely left the building, was Thomas Linke as General Manager. Linke was the strongest example of the first type of hire; Red Bull experienced. Linke spent his playing days at Bayern Munich and Red Bull Salzburg before going on to be the General Manager at Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig before moving on the Ingolstadt from 2011-17. His familiarity with the Red Bull management structure and ties to a club like Bayern Munich made him a very attractive hire for RB Paris. He would be joined by the second type of hire; AS Monaco veterans. Alain Ravera would be appointed Head of Youth Development, stolen away from Toulouse in the same position. Ravera had his first go at the position at Le Mans after assistant coaching stints at Rennes and AS Monaco. There is hope that he will bring his experience from those two clubs to the youth setup, both are excellent clubs at recruiting and developing talent. Morgan Boullier would take over the Chief Scout position, a job he held at AS Monaco and OGC Nice.

On the touch line is would be more experience from clubs at the top of the youth development game. António Vieira would be added at Assistant Coach, a job he held at AS Monaco from 2014-19, he would be a valuable veteran coaching presence to pair with Patrice Evra for his first year in Ligue 1. Stéphane Cassard would be brought in a GK Coach, he held the same position at Marseille from 2014-19 so the club is hoping he can help develop Anthony Maisonnal as the competition gets much harder.

The club quietly started to invest in the youth setup by taking steps to improve scouting along with management and coaching. Inside sources indicate that Red Bull GmbH has informed staff that their network reach will now be extended to anywhere in the world. While they are likely to continue to focus on France and the EU, as evidenced by their hiring of two new scouts based in France, they will likely try to build a stronger pipeline to Africa. An additional data analyst, also based in Frances, and a Loan Manager shows that the club is gearing up to stockpile talent and loan them out as needed. RB Paris 2 likely won’t provide the proper environment for youth players too old for U-19 and not quite ready for the senior squad.

One of the more surprising headlines of the early pre-season was the desirability of Evra. He received quite a bit of praise for guiding RB Paris into Ligue 1, but nobody could have predicted how much interest that would generate from other clubs. The first approach came from a surprising source; Marseille. News leaked that Marseille had approached Evra right after firing Paco Jémez, but Evra was quick to squash any rumors.

“I’m very flattered to be asked for an interview, it was just a request, but I politely declined” said Evra when approached by reporters walking to his car. “Marseille are a great club, but I have work to do here and we aren’t done yet. The time is not right to think about moving.”

As long as Evra keeps winning the situation in Paris might be too good to jump for a higher paying job just yet. Marseille would move quickly after approaching Evra and end up signing Michael Laudrap a few weeks later. There are rumors of other clubs interested, but at this time they are just wild speculation.

The move to Ligue 1 did attract some additional commercial sponsorships and a modest increase in kit sales, but nothing comes close enough to knocking the charging bulls off their chest.


No surprises here outside of the third kit. The home and away kit stayed the same with Nike straying from the black third kit of last year to try and liven things up. The club would like to try and differentiate themselves a little from RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg, and Red Bull Bragantino through their third kit even though they wore the home white nearly 75% of the time last year. Being able to wear their whites and home and on the road has created a situation where the away and third kits start to collect cobwebs, there has been some discussion of using those primarily for cup competitions so it’s likely they will be used rarely once again.

Promotion brings joy, but it also brings pain in the form of salary demands. A number of players, particularly the veterans with expiring contracts who see the writing on the wall, were fairly aggressive about demanding new contracts. This did not go over well with ownership as the club seems set on letting their contracts wind down.

The loudest and most annoying voice became Julien Lopez. The 29-year old LW turned in a solid season and tried to spin it into a big deal, but little did he know that the club were looking hard at a number of LW to add depth to the squad and replace him when his contract was up. Perhaps Lopez got word of this, but his situation went south very quickly and the club decided to see if they could get something for him. Things got really bad for Lopez, who didn’t want to be sold, when RB Paris announced the purchase of Aliou Traoré from Manchester United. The addition of the young French LW was enough to get Lopez to start discussing contracts with teams and a week after Traoré signed Lopez was out the door for a healthy €1.7M.

“It wasn’t what we wanted, but Julien forced our hand. I think he would have been good for Traoré, but things didn’t work out.”

There are some reports that Evra used his connections at Manchester United, and knowledge of their players, to target a few loan signings. Hannibal Mejbri, Dillon Hoogewerf, and Traoré were the primary targets but the club weren’t interested in loaning Traoré. Turns out that after pressing a little harder it turned out he could be bought for a reasonable price and RB Paris didn’t hesitate at the opportunity. Getting Mejbri and Hoogewerf as well were a huge win, both of them fill massive holes and RB Paris were able to get them at a fraction of their salary.

While the total were small in comparison, this window represented a massive spending spree for the club. The Abner Felipe signing crushed their previous record spend and they didn’t stop there. This window brought in a number of players with the intention of having them start or compete for a starting spot, few jobs were safe and the preseason will be far from a relaxing vacation.

Senior / Major Transfers (Out)
Julien Lopez (LW, Lokeren) €1.7M

Senior Transfers (In)
Abner Felipe (LB, PSTC Procopense) €500K
Aliou Traoré (LW, Manchester United) €475K
Pierluigi Pinto (CB, Fiorentina) €425K
Demetre Buliskeria (GK, Torpedo Kutais) €325K
Diego Raposo (CM, Beira-Mar) €205K
Kemehlo Nguena (CM, Troyes) €92K
Dennis Waidner (RB, Bayern Munich) €90K
Haytham Al-Louz (CB, Al-Karamah) €1.7K
Benito (RW, Free Agent) Free
Hannibal Mejbri (CM, Manchester United) Loan
Dillon Hoogewerf (CF, Manchester United) Loan

Final Transfer List (Impact Signings)
Ugo Aubert (CF, Virton - Belgium) €110K
Emmanuel Odumosu (GK, RAAL Louviéroise - Belgium) €10.5K
Nicolas Clement (LB, RWD Molenbeek - Belgium) €10K
Rasmus Rasmussen (RW, Raufoss - Denmark) Free
Silésio (CF, Sandonà 1922 - Brazil) Free

Sometimes it’s hard to believe the talent you can find for free. While the club loves all of the youth players it landed over the summer they are most excited about Rasmus Rasmussen. His name and price were irresistible, but his talent is undeniable on the wing. A few scouts and coaches have compared him to Wilson Isidor, so if he’s even close to that good RB Paris has a bargain on their hands.

Even if you're a top-tier side, I think you should always keep a regular eye on the free transfer market, and aim at minimum to bring in at least 1 free agent per season. There's always someone in there who can contribute to the club, from an old head who can train the youngsters in the reserves, to even just a semi-decent guy whose gonna fetch a reasonable price in the next season.