“Something really good is created”
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As in the previous season, AS Monaco greets from the top of the Ligue 1 table before the 8th matchday. Coach Adi Hütter’s team is still unbeaten in all competitions this season and is therefore among the top European teams. Can the team around 27-time German international Thilo Kehrer maintain this top form? What are the Monegasques currently doing right? Transfermarkt gets to the bottom of these questions.
Monaco has scored 19 points so far and is two points ahead of champions Paris Saint-Germain – the best start to the season in the club’s history. Monaco’s average age is 23.9 years, and together with PSG, AS is the second youngest team in the French top flight behind RC Strasbourg Alsace (22.0). In Europe’s other top leagues, not a single team beats this value. It’s not just in these statistics that Hütter’s team is causing a sensation beyond the country’s borders: on the first Champions League matchday they defeated the in-form FC Barcelona 2-1 and Monaco is one of the four teams in Europe’s five strongest leagues competitions are undefeated. The others are Arsenal, Manchester City and Juventus.
Ronan Caroff, editor for TM in France, explains Monaco’s rise: “Most of the key players have stayed and the sales have been offset by exciting talent. Monaco entered the transfer market early on and only had to make a few adjustments over the course of the transfer period.”
The Monegasques are traditionally a training club that takes on talent at a young age and sells it on profitably after they have developed well. Hütter also had to replace top performers such as Youssouf Fofana (25; Milan) and Axel Disasi (26; Chelsea) in the last two years. Since 2000, the eight-time French champion has earned 1.51 billion euros from sales, putting it in fifth place worldwide – in return, 1.33 billion euros were invested in new acquisitions. Hütter has also already succeeded in developing talent. The 22-year-old homegrown player Maghnes Akliouche increased his market value by 5 million euros to 30 million euros in the latest Ligue 1 update. With George Ilenikhena (18), Christian Mawissa (19) and Lamine Camara (20), top talents with a lot of potential were once again signed last summer for almost 50 million euros.
Former Bundesliga coach Hütter with the best points average in Monaco’s history
Hütter, who previously worked in the Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Mönchengladbach, took over the coaching position in the principality from Philippe Clement in July 2023. In his first season, the 54-year-old led the club to runner-up status and reached the Champions League. With an average of 2.09 points per game in 46 games, the Austrian is the Monegasque team’s best coach whose tenure lasted longer than 15 days.
“The team is much more stable under Hütter. He doesn’t necessarily play more offensively than his predecessors, but he has given the team a consistency that is based on stability. The team is also flexible, can vary between multiple systems and players can rotate. “She seems more stable, especially in pressure situations,” says Caroff about Hütter’s adjustments since taking office.
AS Monaco: Ex-Gladbacher Zakaria among market value winners
An important factor is also captain Denis Zakaria (27), who came from Juventus in 2023 for 20 million euros – the ex-Gladbach player went from 25 million to 28 million euros in the last market value update. “Since his arrival, the Swiss has brought stability to the midfield and this season his influence has become even stronger. “He took over the captaincy from Ben Yedder and even scored three goals in a team that was not lacking in attacking options,” said Caroff, explaining Zakaria’s fourth upgrade in the last twelve months.
Top performers in Monaco: Kehrer wants the DFB comeback
Kehrer (28) is one of the players with the most experience – only Takumi Minamino (29) and Aleksandr Golovin (28) are older. In the summer, the central defender moved from West Ham United to the Côte d’Azur for 11 million euros after a six-month loan. In a very short time he became head of defense and was appointed vice-captain by Hütter.
On Friday, the league leaders will welcome fifth-placed LOSC Lille to kick off the 8th matchday. In an interview with “Sport Bild,” Kehrer looked optimistically into the future: “Something really good is happening here. We have a young team with a lot of potential. If we perform consistently, a lot is possible here.”
Thanks to his development and good performances for Monaco, Kehrer hopes to return to the national team. “I would like to be invited. And I think that I deserved a nomination because of my achievements and qualities.” He made his debut for the DFB in 2018 and was last in the squad in June 2023. In the national team, Kehrer alternated between central defense and right defense, but prefers defensive center: “It’s important for me that I consistently play in one position – central defense.”
For Ligue 1 expert Caroff, Kehrer is “one of the most important players and helps the team above all with his experience. He was also able to demonstrate his offensive qualities and scored two goals with his head.”
In France, Paris Saint-Germain has dominated since the takeover of Qatar and has won the title ten times since 2013. Since then, another team has only been able to win the league twice – including AS Monaco in the 2016/17 season. Is there a big hit this season too?
