Times are tough at Saint-Etienne, which does not have a big budget to strengthen its team in the transfer window.
It must be said that the Greens pay for the investments made at the time when Jean-Louis Gasset brought in Yann M’Vila, Neven Subotić or even Paul-Georges Ntep and Mathieu Debuchy. The accounts are turning orange in ASSE, and it is not this summer that the Greens will recruit heavy. In the columns of Progress, Stéphanois manager Claude Puel was very transparent about the situation of the Forézien club. In all fairness, the former Leicester and Southampton manager admitted that ASSE had been forced to downsize, and there was still a tough year to go before they found their way back into the transfer market.
“We’re making no secret that there is still a difficult season. In July 2022, a new page will open for ASSE with investment possibilities because financial balances will have been restored. Until then, we will have to fight without the possibility of a worthy recruitment. It’s assumed. When I arrived in October 2019, we were twentieth in the championship before the kick-off of the first game. Many have forgotten it. Yes, ASSE ended with a good season but with a risky model insofar as the club had taken on debt, had developed a group of experience but which did not allow for a future. There had been loans to maintain a certain payroll and bring in players. However, one cannot live by proxy. It was untenable. In addition, there were no young people capable of filling deficits in the winter transfer window, in the event of financial difficulties. From the start, I had to find solutions “ said Claude Puel, who will try to hold ASSESS without shaking in the coming season before hoping for a brighter outlook starting in the summer of 2022.