Ajacio
Coach Fabrizio Ravanelli
Key arrivals Laurent Bonnart (Lille), Claude Dielna (Olympiakos, Gre, on loan), Cedric Hengbart (Auxerre), Anthony Scribe (Corte)
Key departures Anthony Lippini (Clermont), Frederic Sammaritano (released), Damien Tiberi (Laval)
For a second successive season the Corsicans narrowly avoided the drop last term – which is a massive success for such a small club. New coach Ravanelli will be hoping to improve on 17th place, but staying in Ligue 1 will be the only objective.
Bastia
Coach Frederic Hantz
Key arrivals Drissa Diakite (Olympiakos, Gre), Claudiu Keseru (Angers), Francois Modesto (Olympiakos, Gre), Florian Raspentino (Marseille, on loan)
Key departures Gael Angoula (Angers), Landry Bonnefoi (Chateauroux)
Hantz performed wonders last season to achieve a 12th-place finish. How much it will have taken out of his modest squad remains to be seen, but it’s unlikely Bastia will better last season’s efforts.
Bordeaux
Coach Francis Gillot
Key arrivals Jeremie Brechet (Troyes)
Key departures Evan Chevalier (released), Abdoulaye Keita (released), Anthony Modeste (Hoffenheim, Ger), Benoit Tremoulinas (Dynamo Kiev, Ukr)
The French Cup winners enjoyed an excellent season on a very tight budget, finishing seventh under the canny stewardship of Gillot. If they can improve on that they will be doing well.
Evian
Coach Pascal Dupraz
Key arrivals Nicolas Benezet (Nimes)
Key departures none
The beaten French Cup finalists will be looking to climb the table after finishing 16th last time out. It’s not certain that they will be able to pull it off, though – and if they don’t get off to a good start it could be a long, hard campaign.
Guingamp
Coach Jocelyn Gourvennec
Key arrivals Steven Langil (Auxerre), Jeremy Sorbon (Caen)
Key departures Francois Bellugou (Nancy)
They secured the second promotion slot from Ligue 2, behind Monaco, but won’t have any ambitions besides avoidingan instant return from whence they came.
Lille
Coach Rene Girard
Key arrivals Jonathan Delaplace (Zulte Waregem, Blg), Julian Jeanvier (Nancy), Simon Kjaer (Wolfsburg, Ger), Thibault Peyre (Toulouse)
Key departures Laurent Bonnart (Ajaccio), Aurelien Chedjou (Galatasaray, Tur), Lucas Digne (Paris Saint-Germain), Dimitri Payet (Marseille)
Sixth place was a disappointment for the ambitious northern club last term and coach Rudi Garcia departed for Roma. Under Girard, they might have to consolidate.
Lorient
Coach Christian Gourcuff
Key arrivals Vincent Aboubakar (Valenciennes), Raphael Guerreiro (Caen)
Key departures Ludovic Giuly (retired)
A superb previous campaign saw the minnows snaffle eighth place under the resourceful Gourcuff. It’s hard to see them punching so far above their weight for a second successive season.
Lyon
Coach Remi Garde
Key arrivals Gael Danic (Valenciennes), Miguel Lopes (Sporting Lisbon, Por, on loan)
Key departures Dejan Lovren (Southampton, Eng) Anthony Reveillere (released)
Once again Lyon have had to keep a tight rein on their pre-season spending, so if Garde can securea third-place finish as he did last term then he will have worked wonders once more.
Marseille
Coach Elie Baup
Key arrivals Benjamin Mendy
(Le Havre), Dimitri Payet (Lille)
Key departures Florian Raspentino (Bastia, on loan)
Baup will have his troops well drilled and difficult to beat as usual, but these days they simply don’t have the financial clout to pose any real problems at the very top of the table – especially now that they also have Monaco to deal with.
Monaco
Coach Claudio Ranieri
Key arrivals Eric Abidal (Barcelona, Spa), Ricardo Carvalho (Real Madrid, Spa), Radamel Falcao (Atletico Madrid, Spa), Joao Moutinho (Porto, Por), James Rodriguez (Porto, Por), Jeremy Toulalan (Malaga, Spa)
Key departures Dennis Appiah (Caen), Nampalys Mendy (Nice)
The promoted side have serious aspirations of winning Ligue 1 this season. With a smart coach in Ranieri, and Colombian sharpshooter Falcao in the side, anything is possible. If PSG weren’t around, they would be a shoo-in.
Montpelier
Coach Jean Fernandez
Key arrivals Djamel Bakar (Nancy), Morgan Sanson
(Le Mans), Siaka Tiene (Paris Saint-Germain)
Key departures Younes Belhanda (Dynamo Kiev, Ukr), Marco Estrada (Al Wahda, UAE)
After winning the title in 2012 it was inevitable Montpellier would have something of a comedown last season. Club owner Louis Nicollin will surely demand a better league position than 12th and, with no European football to distract, that should be achievable.
Nantes
Coach Michel Der Zakarian
Key arrivals Fernando Aristeguieta (Caracas, Ven), Gabriel Cichero (Caracas, Ven), Oswaldo Vizcarrondo (Club America, Mex)
Key departures Karim Djellabi (Auxerre), Ismael Keita (Angers)
Nantes are a big club and they will want to make their mark on their return to Ligue 1. They would do well to concentrate on the task at hand, though, which is simply to avoid relegation.
Nice
Coach Claude Puel
Key arrivals Nampalys Mendy (Monaco)
Key departures none
The surprise packet of last term, with Puel seeming to have found his spiritual home. If anyone can upset the expected PSG/Monaco monopoly this season, it could well be Nice.
Paris Saint-Germain
Coach Laurent Blanc
Key arrivals Edinson Cavani (Napoli, Ita), Lucas Digne (Lille)
Key departures Sylvain Armand (Rennes), Jean-Christophe Bahebeck (Valenciennes, on loan), David Beckham (retired), Siaka Tiene (Montpellier)
With Monaco flashing the cash, the pressure is on and PSG responded with a French league record fee to sign Cavani. Their Champions League ambitions could prove an Achilles heel.
Reims
Coach Hubert Fournier
Key arrivals Mads Albaek (Midtjylland, Den), Prince Oniangue (Tours)
Key departures Johan Liebus (released), Johann Ramare (released)
Reims achieved their primary goal of avoiding relegation last season with a little bit to spare. It’s highly likely that they will do the same again this time.
Rennes
Coach Philippe Montanier
Key arrivals Sylvain Armand (Paris Saint-Germain), Jean Makoun (Aston Villa, Eng)
Key departures Yacine Brahimi (Grenada, Spa), Johann Carrasso (Metz)
New coach Montanier has a good reputation and Rennes will have been disappointed to finish in the bottom half of the table last season. Expect big improvements.
Saint-Etienne
Coach Christophe Galtier
Key arrivals none
Key departures Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund, Ger)
Saint-Etienne won the League Cup and finished fourth in the league, which was a great performance from Galtier’s men. If they don’t lose their key assets they should be aiming for more of the same.
Sochaux
Coach Eric Hely
Key arrivals Julien Faussurier (Troyes)
Key departures none
It was touch and go whether Sochaux would avoid the drop last season. Surely they can’t be as poor again…
Toulouse
Coach Alain Casanova
Key arrivals Mihai Roman (Rapid Bucharest, Rom), Uros Spajic (Red Star Belgrade, Ser)
Key departures Thibault Peyre (Lille)
Toulouse were mid-table all the way last term. However, without some massive additions to the playing staff that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
Valenciennes
Coach Daniel Sanchez
Key arrivals Jean-Christophe Bahebeck (Paris Saint-Germain, on loan), Aurelian Chitu (Viitorul Constanta, Rom), Eloge Enza Yamissi (Troyes)
Key departures Vincent Aboubakar (Lorient), Gael Danic (Lyon), Nicolas Isimat-Mirin (Monaco)
Valenciennes were happy to finish up in mid-table again last season. And that’s where they are likely to be again this time.
