The club was founded in 1924 in Monaco, the second smallest country in the world with only a population of around 35,000. They play their football at the Stade Louis II which is only a 18,523 all seater and because of the country being the most dense in the world, the stadium looks never likely to expand. Rybolovlev a resident of Monaco, a football fanatic and a philanthropist who has dedicated millions to to the restoration of cathedrals in his native Russia was given the all clear by Prince Albert of Monaco to acquire the majority holding in the club. This investment took place in 2011 where Monaco found themselves in Ligue 2 for the first time since 1953 when the club had worked their way up from the old Division 2.
Arguably one of Monaco’s most successful era was when a 39 year old Arsene Wenger took the managerial reins for the best part of 7 years. In his first season alone he won the French League. More notable was the calibre of player that the team were attracting, players such as George Weah, Glenn Hoddle, Jürgen Klinsmann and Youri Djorkaeff. The youth team had churned out players that went on to win a World Cup for their country, Lillian Thuram, Thierry Henry and Emmanuel Petit. The team was unlucky not to gain European success when, in 1992 they lost in the European Cup Winners Cup 0-2 to Werder Bremen.
2004 was another successful year for the club in terms of what they achieved in Europe. Under the guidance of Didier Deschamps the team were beating clubs such as Real Madrid and Chelsea on their way to the Champions League final. In the end they become unstuck by Jose Mourinho’s Porto, 3-0 was the score. Then came the clubs decline, there was no real reason behind such a costless fall from being a club competing for the league every season. Deschamps left the season of 2005 after an early exit from the Champions League and the club being way off the pace in the League. The club were almost going through a manager a season so there was no real stability and slowly they found themselves finishing the season lower down the table each year. Until in the 2010/2011 season their worse fears ha come true and they finished 18th in table and relegation ensued.
The club couldn’t get out of Ligue 2 at the first time of asking, hence Rybolovlev’s appointment of “The Tinker Man” Claudio Ranieri. Ranieri guided them to promotion this season in his first year at the club. The team was a relatively unknown one captained by Andreas Wolf, Ibrahima Toure finished top scorer and Lucas Ocampos is considered a their hot prospect. Probably their most recognisable player is long serving Italian keeper Flavio Roma who has been number two for the best part of the season. However all is about to change at the club.
Rybolovlev is ready to plough his millions into the club. Last week it was confirmed that they signed James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho for a reported £60m from the every transfer savvy Porto. Rodriguez’s transfer alone is reported to be £38.5m a vast amount and real signal of intent for what Monaco have in store for the rest of the transfer window. Even at the time of writing this players are being continually linked to the club, Falcao appears to have passed his medical and will sign today for a fee of £51m. Other rumours include Ricardo Carvalho, Victor Valdes and Fabio Coentrao, whether they are next through the door we are yet to see.
The real attraction for players to join is plain to see, Monaco is a very lavish beautiful country….Oh and there is a “no tax for foreign players” rule. The agreement its self extends back to 1869 whereby any foreign player that lives in Monaco does not have to pay income tax. Given that players that play in the French league (in France) and earn over a million euros a year pay 75% taxes. Now that Monaco have a millionaire owner there is uproar amongst other clubs about the distinct advantage that Monaco now possess. In a move to rectify this, the league have issued that Monaco could be thrown out of the French league if they fail to comply with the new financial sanctions that will be set. Latest developments are that Monaco have been ordered to pay €200m which will go to other clubs as compensation, they are contesting the time frame it has to be paid in. The case is on going.
There is a certain calculation to Monaco’s spending however, it wont be just a case of spending over the odds on the biggest names in football, the project extends a little further than that. Recently the club took on Jean-Luc Buisine the former head scout of Lille. The same head scout that has sourced the likes of Dante, Eden Hazard, Michel Bastos and brought together the group of players that won the French league in 2011 for the first time in 57 years. While the big money signings will alert people to Monaco’s presence once more, Buisine will be working behind the scenes to find that balance of players and find players that can be the future of the club.
Monaco are the latest of clubs to have a “sugar daddy” chairman and it will be interesting to see how they perform with big name stars once again. They are a historic that have verged on European success before, maybe this time around they will have silverware to show for their troubles. It is clear to see the ambition is still there, the club have stated they aim to be in the Champions League in 2014/2015 season. They should push teams like PSG and Marseilles when fighting for these all important places. Monaco may have been away from the top tier for two seasons but they are a historic French club with ambition.