Contrasting Visions: Lille & Franck Béria Vs Lyon & David Friio in Recruitment – Data Analysis

As the 2024/25 Ligue 1 season kicks off, the battling between clubs will shift from being primarily conducted behind the scenes as each team tries to prepare themselves as best they can for the campaign ahead to taking place on the pitch when the squads that each competitor has assembled will be put to the test against one another.

The season provides us — and the teams themselves — with a fantastic opportunity to assess each team’s respective work behind the scenes during the transfer window and judge their ability to create a squad of the necessary standard to achieve their respective goals in the 2024/25 campaign.

Two teams that will probably be entering the new season with relatively similar goals are Lille and Lyon, who finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in Ligue 1 last time around.

Both of these sides are staples of the French top-flight and both will be hoping to push for UEFA Champions League football in 2025/26 through their league position in 2024/25.

However, both teams have approached the process of recruitment in contrasting ways this summer, with the two sides on very different stages of their respective journeys at the moment.

This Ligue 1 recruitment analysis piece will use data and statistics to provide some analysis of the work that Lille, under the leadership of their ‘Director of Professional Football’ Franck Béria and ‘Sports Coordinator’ Sylvain Armand, have done to prepare their squad for the 2024/25 campaign.

This is also their first campaign under new manager Bruno Génésio, who similar to Lyon in their first summer under ‘Sporting Director’ Friio, had approached bolstering their squad for manager Pierre Sage.

Ligue 1 Summer Transfer Window Overview

It’s worth reiterating that at the time of writing this piece, the 2024 summer transfer window has not yet officially concluded, so the numbers we analyse here are not 100% final.

However, they do still provide us with a clear insight into the recruitment approach of both Lyon and Lille, in the current stages of their respective projects.

Turning our attention to figure 1, the stark contrast between Lille and Lyon’s transfer strategies becomes immediately apparent, with Lille the most profitable team in the league, at the time of writing, in the summer transfer window and Lyon with the biggest net spend.

Lyon’s €134.3m spent on transfers this summer has been spread among eight new arrivals.