Ligue 1 talking points: A deluge of departures

With Ligue 1 in its second week, theScore will take a look at three talking points to keep an eye on as Paris Saint-Germain guns for a fifth successive title while the rest of the top flight hope to keep pace.

Amid another summer spell of marquee players jumping ship to bigger Ligue 1 sides or abroad, eight transfers stand out as more influential than the rest.

While Paris Saint-Germain is certain to struggle to fill the void vacated by Zlatan Ibrahimovic's departure to Manchester United, three clubs desperate for European football will likely suffer more from the exodus of influential attackers.

Three clubs that would be overjoyed with the prospects of having Edinson Cavani, Jean-Kevin Augustin, and Jese deputise for the angular Swede, three sides who could slide down the Ligue 1 table and flirt perilously with relegation without their star strikers.

Ousmane Dembele

From near-obscurity to one of the continent's most talented emerging forwards, Rennes rode Dembele's teenage coattails last season to an eighth-place finish that was highlighted by otherwise mercurial displays.

Dembele, 19, bagged 12 goals in 22 starts last season for Les Rouges et Noirs, with Kamil Grosicki second on nine, and forward Giovanni Sio third on seven tallies. If incoming gaffer Christian Gourcuff is to improve on last season's standing, Grosicki and Sio will again have to carry the side, while 21-year-old academy grad Wesley Said will look to profit from an increase in playing time in Dembele's stead.

Michy Batshuayi

Like Dembele, Batshuayi used the 2015-16 campaign as a stepping stone to greater things, and the Belgian international's big-money move to Chelsea is sure to hamper Marseille's modest ambitions.

Batshuayi, 22, led OM with 17 goals in 36 appearances, accounting for 35 percent of the club's total. Remy Cabella, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou - who's off to Tottenham - and Romain Alessandri were joint second with five tallies, and if Franck Passi and co. think Bafetimbi Gomis will fill Batshuayi's void, Swansea supporters will be pleased to prove otherwise.

Wissam Ben Yedder

If exits for Dembele and Batshuayi are certain to impair the aspirations of Rennes and Marseille, respectively, Ben Yedder's departure from Toulouse could absolutely crush a side who staved off relegation by the narrowest of margins.

From the same Parisian suburb Sarcelles as Riyad Mahrez, Ben Yedder, 26, has been Ligue 1's best kept secret until this summer's move to Sevilla. In the last four seasons, only Ibrahimovic and Lyon goal machine Alexandre Lacazette have bagged more league goals.

With no fewer than 34 league appearances in the last four campaigns paired with outputs of 15, 16, 14, and 17 goals, Ben Yedder was responsible for 38 percent of Les Pitchouns' tallies last season. Pascal Dupraz may be faced with a season rife with anguish if Ola Toivonen and on-loan PSG teen Odsonne Eduoard are expected to pick up the slack left by the pint-sized Ben Yedder. Pressure's on Martin Braithwaite.