A Lille bit of hope that this could be the year PSG are really pushed
LILLE are not Ligue 1’s sexiest side but they are rigorous, organised, disciplined – and, more often than not, they have the ball.’ So wrote sports daily L’Equipe after Lille’s 3-0 win over Strasbourg last month.
That was just one of a series of early season performances so impressive that some are speculating ‘LOSC’ – as the side from this cold corner in the north-east of the country are most commonly known in France – have the potential to challenge Paris Saint-Germain for the league title this time out.
There would be a nice sense of timing about it as it is a decade since Lille did the domestic double. In 201011, they swept all before them with a team boasting the future Premier League stars Eden Hazard, Yohan Cabaye and Gervinho.
The current incarnation is less swashbuckling but just as absorbing to watch.
They play a brand of high-tempo, high-pressing football rarely seen in France. Their desire to add further goals after going ahead rather than sit back on a 1-0 lead is also distinctly un-Ligue 1.
Current Lille manager Christophe Galtier has incorporated three new faces into his favoured 4-4-2 formation this season.
Lille’s transfer dealings during the most recent window were all the more admirable as they made a £50million trading profit, thanks in part to the sale of Brazilian defender Gabriel to Arsenal for around £27m.
Eventually selling their best players is what Lille do and many of their current line-up – new Dutch centreback Sven Botman, a bargain £7m signing from Ajax, and the two Jonathans, Ikone and Bamba, who operate on the flanks – will move on at some point.
Another key member of the side that will say goodbye to Lille one day is Renato Sanches.
The Portugal midfielder made headlines when he was voted the Best
Young Player at Euro 2016. But a huge move to Bayern Munich from Benfica never really worked out and Sanches also did little to impress on loan at Swansea in 2017-18, with the Welsh club relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season.
Nevertheless, Lille still had to pay a club-record fee of approximately £21m to sign him from Bayern in 2019.
Now 23, Sanches has found Lille to be the perfect environment to rebuild his career. He is playing so well only Kylian Mbappe ranks above him in L’Equipe’s 2020-21 player ratings.
No fewer than seven Lille players are in the top 20.
So scouts are taking note but Galtier remains confident he can keep his impressive side together through the January transfer window. That means we should have at least 12 months of seeing how far their collective talent can take them.
Lille are only two points behind leaders PSG in the fledgling league table. It is early days but in a country where the Parisian giants normally dominate, Lille’s form is raising hopes we might have a meaningful title race on our hands this season.
‘Scouts are taking note but Galtier is confident he can keep his side together’