Kylian Mbappe, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Fabinho, Bernardo Silva (GONE!), Benjamin Mendy, Thomas Lemar. They are the stars of Monaco’s fantastic journey to the Champions League semi-finals this season and all are reported summer targets for some of the biggest clubs in Europe, with the aforementioned Silva since sealing a move to Manchester City.
In the case of Mbappe in particular, world record fees are even being rumoured.
As happened with Silva, Monaco may be left with little choice but to give in and let their exciting team be carved up by the highest bidders. That’s something these six teams from the past know only too well…
6. Monaco ’15
Just as in 2016/17, Monaco were the new and exciting team in the Champions League during the 2014/15 campaign. They had only returned to top flight football in France the season before, but were armed with a fresh squad with several emerging youngsters.
Having comprehensively beaten Arsenal in the Last 16, only a narrow aggregate loss at the hands of Juventus knocked the principality club out, but suitors had had more than enough time to take thorough note of their best assets.
Layvin Kurzawa was lost to domestic giants PSG, while Yannick Carrasco Ferreira headed to Atetico Madrid. Midfield engine Geoffrey Kondogbia went to Inter for big money, established centre-back Aymen Abdennour joined Valencia, and Anthony Martial became the most expensive teenager in the world when he joined Manchester United, all in one summer.
5. Southampton ’14
A questionable choice at the time of his appointment, Mauricio Pochettino steered Southampton to Premier League safety after he took over in January 2013 and then guided the Saints to an incredible 8th place finish in his first full season.
It didn’t last long, though. Pochettino was poached to take over at Tottenham, while the team was quickly gutted in the market. Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren joined Liverpool for a combined £49m, while Luke Shaw went to Manchester United for £30m and Calum Chambers to Arsenal for around £16m.
With Southampton continuing to do well under the new management of Ronald Koeman the following season, Nathaniel Clyne and Morgan Schneiderlin were later then snapped up by Liverpool and Manchester United respectively.
4. PSV Eindhoven ’05
More clinical finishing and it would have been PSV Eindhoven contesting the 2005 Champions League final against Liverpool in Istanbul instead of AC Milan.
PSV had brought South Korean World Cup heroes Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo to Europe in 2003 and the pair were poached by Manchester United and Tottenham respectively after the Dutch club’s great and unexpected on the elite stage.
The midfield was decimated after Mark van Bommel was snapped up by Barcelona and Johann Vogel joined Milan, while the defence lost a key member from its heart when Wilfred Bouma also joined Aston Villa in that same summer.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Andre Ooijer and DaMarcus Beasley had also left by 2006.
3. Porto ’04
Jose Mourinho put his name on the football map when he managed Porto to back-to-back European trophies in 2003 and 2004, claiming the UEFA Cup and then the Champions League one after the other.
But Mourinho took over at Chelsea and announced himself as the ‘special one’ barely a week after the Champions League final, with key defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira immediately following the boss to west London.
The same summer, playmaker Deco joined Barcelona and Pedro Mendes joined Tottenham. A year later Dynamo Moscow then swooped for midfield duo Maniche and Costinha, leaving the Porto squad just a shadow of what it had been at its peak.
2. Parma ’99
Having threatened to break the status quo in Italian football in the preceding years, Parma had a top season in 1998/99 after winning both the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup with an exciting team featuring both rising stars and experienced pros.
They also finished fourth in Serie A to reach the Champions League qualifying rounds, but within two years ravenous suitors had ripped the team apart.
Juan Sebastian Veron was among the first to leave, joining Lazio for a hefty £18m, while Enrico Chiesa and Abel Balbo both went to Fiorentina. A year later, Lazio made Hernan Crespo the most expensive player in the world and also poached Dino Baggio.
Then, in 2001, Juventus swooped and prised away Lilian Thuram and Gianluigi Buffon, while Fabio Cannavaro eventually wound up joining Inter Milan in 2002.
1. Ajax ’95
Louis van Gaal’s Ajax Golden Generation stunned Europe by beating the mighty AC Milan to win the Champions League in 1995. Yet within two years of that glorious success, as many as eight of the players involved that night had moved on, while Frank Rijkaard retired.
In the new era of Bosman transfers, Ajax were powerless to stop Clarence Seedorf leaving for Sampdoria soon after the win over Milan. The rest of the team stayed together and returned to the final 12 months later, but then Edgar Davids joined Milan on a free.
Also in 1996, Finidi George was sold to big spending Real Betis, while Michael Reiziger joined Milan with Davids. Nwankwo Kanu, meanwhile was prised away by Inter.
Patrick Kluivert and Winston Bogarde continued the exodus to Milan when they joined the Rossoneri in 1997, the same year that Marc Overmars joined Arsenal for £7m.
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