Transfer window: What every Ligue 1 club needs in January
Like a blast of frigid winter wind bursting through weathered barn doors, the January transfer window has opened - to the relief of some, and the dismay of others.
In France, a handful of clubs threaten Paris Saint-Germain's hold on top-flight honours, with the window offering an opportunity to stack the deck for the Ligue 1 run-in.
At the other end are smaller sides with modest means - which will gravitate toward thrifty moves - while somewhere in between, teams buoyed by safety will eye prudent transactions in hopes of nicking a Europa League spot.
Here's a look at potential additions for each of club during the January window:
Nice
With Younes Belhanda nursing a toe injury and Jean Micheal Seri likely to represent Ivory Coast in AFCON competition, Lucien Favre will have both a hole in the midfield and on the left side of his attack.
Veteran Mathieu Bodmer can't fill Seri's shoes, and a combination of Vincent Koziello, 21, and Remi Walter, 20, might be a bit green for a title-chasing side. Either way, expect Wylan Cyprien's meteoric rise in the middle of the park to continue in the absence of his teammates.
Nice is well familiar with reclamation projects - a la Hatem Ben Arfa and Liverpool outcasts the likes of Mario Balotelli - while winger/second striker Ryan Babel is looking for a new club after his Deportivo deal expires Dec. 31. Stranger things have happened.
Monaco
What do you get for a side that seemingly has everything?
New deals for Tiemoue Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva, Kylian Mbappe, and Thomas Lemar that feature Suarez-esque buyout clauses, then sit back and reap the rewards of arguably Ligue 1's deepest side.
Paris Saint-Germain
Sell Thiago Motta for a day-old baguette.
Addition through subtraction for Unai Emery's erratic lot, as Motta's contract is up in the summer, while he has the pace of a sloth and the lateral quickness of a washer-dryer combo. Plus, his agent is annoying. Still, the 34-year-old routinely starts ahead of Grzegorz Krychowiak.
Also, expect Julian Draxler to feel the wrath of Emery's stubbornness, should the high-profile January signing not enjoy a seamless transition to France's top flight.
Lyon
If Mouctar Diakhaby is the forthcoming hope of Lyon's back-four, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is the past, present, and future reason for concern.
Unlikely to win the league this season, Bruno Genesio may fancy supplanting the mercurial Cameroonian with 20-year-old Emanuel Mammana to create Ligue 1's youngest centre-half pairing.
Since that doesn't effectively count as a transfer, trick a club into taking an overpaid Clement Grenier in return for a pittance and call it a window
Guingamp
Modest resources mean the delightfully surprising Bretons are limited in terms of what they can lure to Stade de Roudourou.
That said, if Guingamp's budget loan move for arguably its best player this season, Fernando Marcal, is any indication, economical additions aren't beyond Antoine Kombouare's inspired lot.
A central midfielder to deputise for yellow-card machine Moustapha Diallo couldn't hurt.
Marseille
Yohann Pele's 10 clean sheets are league-best, though five 0-0 results against Toulouse, Lyon, PSG, Bordeaux, and Saint-Etienne point to a failure to capitalise on opportunities in meaningful matches.
Bafetimbi Gomis and Florian Thauvin have combined for 15 league goals, but it's not enough, and unless Clinton N'Jie is a second-half performer, Rudi Garcia would be wise to target support for his attacking pair using Frank McCourt's cash.
Rennes
Since Rennes president Rene Ruello deemed Real Madrid teen talent Martin Odegaard "not ready" for top-flight football, Les Rouges et Noirs may fancy looking elsewhere for an attacking assist.
Rennes' 20 goals scored is second-worst among the top 10, and considering a quarter of those are from Giovanni Sio - who's slated to join Ivory Coast in January's AFCON play - Christian Gourcuff's squad could be in trouble.
If Arsenal is really desperate for Chuba Akpom to get top-flight tenure, a loan move to Roazhon Park is both abstract and logical.
Saint-Etienne
With the fewest goals (18) scored among top-half sides, Saint-Etienne's need for attacking help is glaring.
Romain Hamouma and Robert Beric are joint-best with just a trio of goals apiece, as Christophe Galtier's side continues to profit from the exploits of shot-stopper Stephane Ruffier and centre-back pairing Loic Perrin and Florentin Pogba.
If Les Verts fancy an unattached striker with Ligue 1 experience, one would think it could do worse then giving Emmanuel Adebayor a ring, especially after his potential move to rival Lyon collapsed in the summer.
Toulouse
Few clubs stretch its budget the way Toulouse does - impact signings Christopher Julien, Jimmy Durmaz, and Ola Toivonen all signed permanent deals for a combined €6.3 million - though it remains to be seen if Pascal Dupraz's Pitchouns can do the same in January.
Destined for mid-table safety, Toulouse would be wise to save its pennies and slap a massive buy-out clause on teenager Alban Lafont's deal. Keeping fellow teen Issa Diop around wouldn't hurt either in a squad that's Europe's youngest with an average age of 22.
Bordeaux
Despite seemingly sitting safe in 10th, Bordeaux is as close to fifth as it is to the drop zone, and without a goal in any of its last four matches - a club-worst run since a dire stretch in 1983 - scoring is scarce at Nouveau Stade.
It would certainly help if Jeremy Menez wasn't in such atrocious form.
No stranger to January business after the club offloaded studs Henri Saivet and Wahbi Khazri last season, Bordeaux could use a bit of the same this winter after failing to replace 15 combined goals from the latter and Cheick Diabate.
Under contract until 2020 and completely useless to Vincenzo Montella's plans at San Siro, AC Milan may be willing to loan out Luiz Adriano if Les Girondins can sweeten the deal with a few Euros and a case of an award-winning '09 vintage.
Montpellier
It's a bit inconceivable that Montpellier sits 12th without even a single away win, but Ligue 1 is a bedfellow with the bizarre, and save for getting the south coast side a new travel agent, some help in defensive areas would be useful.
Morgan Sanson, Steve Mounie, and Ryad Boudebouz offer plenty in attack, but Frederic Hantz's lot is all out of whack at the back.
Obscure solution: Manchester United has been disappointed with Cameron Borthwick-Jackson's loan spell at Wolves, which prompts Jose Mourinho to use Red Devils legend Eric Cantona as a go-between with two of his former clubs to secure a mutually beneficial temporary switch.
Lille
With former Lotus F1 president Gerard Lopez set to buy Les Dogues, the January window will be a time of uncertainty for Lille as it awaits an end to negotiations.
A backline perilously inept at defending skill players could use a lifeline. In walks Jurgen Klopp's doghouse dweller, Mamadou Sakho.
Nancy
The best of the three promoted teams, Nancy has made a good account of itself despite routinely fielding a largely unproven side composed of on-loan players and free transfers.
One defeat in its last seven, including five clean sheets, has witnessed Pablo Correa's Lorraine lot benefit from ambitious squad rotations, with no player making more than a dozen league starts. Les Chardons will likely stick with what they've got, secure safety, and trounce hated rival Metz for a second time on the trot come April.
Bastia
Another gem just like Monaco loanee Allan Saint-Maximin.
Seriously though, some goals would help. After Enzo Crivelli's half-dozen markers, no Bastia player has more than a pair, while the Corsicans sit perilously close to the drop zone courtesy of a tepid attack.
Perhaps former player Djibril Cisse could be coaxed out of retirement, or better yet, Bastia could avoid that idea like the plague and stave off relegation with what's in the kitchen cupboard.
Dijon
Buy an away victory.
Winless on the road, Dijon is facing yo-yo status and a return to Ligue 2 courtesy of a dismal away record. Still, the Mustards (yes, that's the Cote d'Or side's nickname) sit 15th, even on points with Angers, Nantes, and Metz.
While it's hard to say exactly what Dijon is looking for in the January window, bargain-basement €850,000 moves for first-team regulars Adam Lang (€850K - Videoton FC) and Mehdi Abeid (€213K - Panathinaikos) in the summer showed the club can be resourceful when need be.
Angers
Luck.
After a storybook 2015-16 campaign, Angers has failed to inspire in its second successive Ligue 1 campaign, and while midfielder Cheikh Ndoye continues to impress, those in front of him have not.
With modest means, it's difficult to imagine Angers bolstering its squad in the winter window, making the Anjou side's priority keeping hold of Ndoye.
Nantes
Sergio Conceicao, who replaced Rene Girard in the first week of December, has inspired a modest revival at La Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau, though Les Canaries sit 17th, narrowly adrift of the drop zone by virtue of goal differential.
With a paltry league-worst 12 goals scored in 18 matches, Nantes has a clear need for assistance in attack, and the club could do worse than recall forward Kolbeinn Sigthorsson from his Galatasaray loan.
Metz
After a brilliant start to its Ligue 1 return, Metz continues to perilously slide down the table since a disastrous 7-0 home defeat to Monaco on Oct. 1.
With twice as many goals conceded (36) as scored (18), Metz has issues all over the park, though a bona fide striker is needed, especially in light of Mevlut Erdinc's regression after a dazzling start.
Solution: Metz academy product Emmanuel Adebayor. Stranger things have happened.
Caen
Croatian striker Ivan Santini has been a revelation and Caen remains the only league side to beat Nice, yet there's been very little else for the Normandie lot to celebrate.
Defending has been a weakness among several shortcomings, highlighting the need for some help at the back to spell the likes of Emmanuel Imorou, Alaedinne Yahia, and Damien Da Silva.
Like most sides in Ligue 1's bottom half, a loan move is likely the most realistic option.
Lorient
The league-worst back end is desperate for any form of relief, and the summer departures of Raphael Guerreiro and Didier Ndong have only compounded how sorely Lorient requires help in defensive areas.
After spending a mere €4.4 million in the summer, perhaps a fraction of the €32 million made on the exits of Guerreiro and Ndong could be put toward a remedy for a squad that's conceded 24 goals away from home.
Heck, Joleon Lescott has been out of work since getting his walking papers from AEK in November.