Last season, Éric Roy achieved one of the most impressive feats in European football by guiding Stade Brest — a side with the fifth-lowest wage bill in the French Ligue 1 — to the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League by guiding Les Pirates to a third-place finish in France’s top-flight, trailing only PSG and Monaco, who had the highest and third-highest wage bills in the league, respectively.
This wasn’t just a major feather in the cap of manager Roy, but also for Sporting Director Gregory Lorenzi, who has been with the Brittany club in some capacity since 2016 — first in the role of ‘Sports Coordinator’ before becoming Sporting Director in 2018.
Lorenzi played a significant role in crafting the squad that Roy had to work with.
The squad ultimately proved strong enough for a top-three finish in one of Europe’s strongest leagues last term—a far from simple challenge considering the financial disparity between Brest and some of the big hitters in Ligue 1 they were battling for that final Champions League place, including Lille, Nice, and Lyon.
This led Lorenzi and Stade Brestois 29’s recruitment department into the 2024 summer when they were tasked with preparing the club to compete on all fronts in the following campaign, with European football to juggle along with their domestic competition.
Now, with the 2024 summer transfer window having slammed shut, this recruitment analysis piece in the form of data analysis will use statistics to assess how Brest handled their business in getting themselves all set for the Champions League.
Despite having achieved so much last season, Lorenzi shed some light on the difficulties he and his club faced in preparing for the 2024/25 campaign in late August, revealing to L’Équipe that Les Pirates struggled to attract the calibre of targets they were after due to the fact that having UCL football this upcoming season doesn’t allow them to then splash out on stars who they could afford for 2024/25, but perhaps not in subsequent seasons, effectively tying their hands and limiting the amount that they could bolster their forces for the challenge ahead this term.
“This year, we can maybe give €100,000, but next season, that won’t be the case… Otherwise, at this rate, it’s not in three years, but in two years that we’ll close our doors” — Lorenzi explained.
So, let’s get down to the details and data to analyse Lorenzi and Brest’s work in the 2024 summer transfer window.
Brest Transfer Window Overview
We’ll kick things off with a brief overview of Brest’s summer transfer activity.
Firstly, Brest had a couple of highly impactful loanees in their ranks last season: Martín Satriano (centre-forward) and Kamory Doumbia (attacking midfield).
Those weren’t the only loanees who were in the squad, with Billal Brahimi (right-wing), Jordan Amavi (left-back) and Julian Le Cardinal (centre-back) all playing important squad roles.
Even with these loanees, Éric Roy had a fairly small squad to work with last term, so at the start of the summer, 40-year-old Sporting Director Lorenzi clearly tried to bring some of the loanees who made up the successful squad of last term back to Brest for their Champions League adventure.
They were unable to bring Satriano back into the fold, and the Uruguayan striker ended up moving back on loan to Ligue 1, but with Lens, who paid a €1m loan fee to secure the Inter man’s services for 2024/25.
However, Doumbia — a player who made the absolute most of his minutes last season, primarily playing as an impact sub within Roy’s squad and accumulating just 889 league minutes over the course of the campaign yet still scoring six and assisting five — did come back to Brest, with Les Pirates parting with €4m to secure the Mali international’s services on a permanent deal.
Kamory Doumbia Radar Map
Doumbia made the most of his time on the pitch last season, contributing significantly for his team off the bench, and Brest will be he can maintain his level this term.
Similarly, squad players Amavi (free) and Le Cardinal (€1.7m) also returned to Stade Francis-Le Blé for good this past summer to bolster Roy’s options.
All in all, with 10 players departing the club this summer (seven permanent, three on loan), Brest made €6.4m in transfer fees — the most significant of which was contributed by Jérémy Le Douaron, who left for Palermo in Italy’s Serie B.
Jérémy Le Douaron Radar Map
Le Douaron was a key creative threat for his team last term, primarily playing as a left-footed left-winger, though Roy experimented with swapping him and Romain Del Castillo — who mainly featured on the right in 2023/24 — at times.
Brest parted with two others who could be considered key players to their 2023/24 campaign over the summer — Steve Mounié who joined Bundesliga side Augsburg on a free transfer after having been a vital part of Brest’s tactics for the past few seasons since joining from Huddersfield Town back in 2020, as well as Lilian Brassier — a young left-sided centre-back with huge potential who we’ve analysed in-depth before here at Total Football Analysis.
Brassier departed Brest for their domestic rivals Marseille on an initial loan, which includes an obligation to buy.
Though strong rumours linked left-back Bradley Locko with Tottenham Hotspur, Napoli and Nottingham Forest over the summer, an achilles tendon rupture pulled that move off the table.
This forced Brest to react late in the window with the arrival of Massadio Haidara to support Amavi as a left-back option.
Haidara is versatile enough to play as a left-back, left wing-back and left centre-back — giving Roy plenty of options.
However, neither Haidara nor Amavi comes close to offering the same level of quality, either in or out of possession, that Locko offers, and had the 22-year-old starlet been sold, you’d imagine a replacement of a higher standard would’ve arrived rather than Haidara.
Still, the Brittany-based side did well to get Haidara in the door on a free transfer before the transfer window shut to ensure they had at least two options at left-back for what’s sure to be a busy season.
On top of Haidara, Doumbia, Le Cardinal and Amavi, Brest signed another eight players, taking them to 12 arrivals in total this summer.
They spent a total of €10.2m, a net transfer fee loss of €3.8m this summer, which has now been invested in their playing squad for 2024/25.
Their most expensive signing was Mama Baldé from Lyon for €4.5m, followed by Doumbia (€4m) and Le Cardinal (€1.7m).
Both left-backs, Amavi and Haidara, came in on free transfers.
At the same time, Les Pirates made great use of the loan market, bringing in seven new loanees for the 2024/25 campaign: Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Ludovic Ajorque, Romain Faivre, Abdallah Sima, Soumaïla Coulibaly, Ibrahim Salah, and Edimilson Fernandes.
Last season, Brest had the fourth-least valuable squad in Ligue 1 according to Transfermarkt’s valuations.
This time around, they enter the campaign 10th in Transfermarkt’s squad value table, which is somewhat of a jump.
A total of €27.9m in value departed the club over the summer, while €13.7m was added on permanent deals from their €10.2m spent, while Brest also managed to inject €41.5m worth of playing quality into their squad via loan deals.
These Transfermarkt valuations should be taken with a grain of salt — let’s reiterate that first and foremost.
However, they do provide a solid indication of the fact that Brest got great bang for their buck in the transfer market this summer, especially through their shrewd and intelligent use of loans.
Lorenzi expressed that the club’s transfer budget was tight despite their UCL qualification and stressed his struggle with convincing some of the talent he had been targeting of the prospect of joining Brest.
However, the 40-year-old Sporting Director has shown how a well-balanced squad with at least a couple of options in each position can be crafted over summer, even on a shoestring — something that Éric Roy will be very grateful for when games are coming thick and fast during the UCL campaign.
Brest Centre-Forward Recruitment
As mentioned, Steve Mounié was one of the key players to leave Brest this summer.
The 29-year-old scored six Ligue 1 goals for Les Pirates in 2023/24, providing two assists.
Furthermore, his height, presence and aerial ability in the forward line were crucial, at times, for Brest’s rather direct style of build-up, with Satriano also contributing significantly in that regard.
Steve Mounié Radar Map
Mounié is as good as they come with regard to being an aerial threat up front.
When it comes to then combining that aerial quality with goalscoring ability — or at least goalscoring threat — Mounié also ranks in a very select group alongside the likes of Tim Kleindienst of Borussia Mönchengladbach and Ante Budimir of Osasuna.
Replacing Mounié and, indeed, Satriano this season was never going to be easy, but considering the tight budget they were working with, Brest did reasonably well with Ludovic Ajorque and Mama Baldé.
Ludovic Ajorque Radar Map
In Ajorque, Brest have successfully replaced Mounié’s height and presence in the forward line but lose something in terms of aerial success and goalscoring threat.
Still, Ajorque should help Brest remain fairly similar stylistically by assisting their direct build-up play and providing an option for the wingers to cross to in the final third.
Mama Baldé Radar Map
Baldé is not as tall as Ajorque and Mounié, but he offers great aerial ability and is a frequent goalscoring threat relative to his minutes on the pitch.
If he can keep the ratio of xG contributions and goal contributions relatively close to where it was last season while accumulating more minutes, Baldé could prove a vital signing for Brest — hence why they made him their most expensive summer acquisition.
Still, it’s a gamble, as Baldé didn’t feature a tonne last season.
However, he did enjoy a prolific Ligue 1 campaign with Troyes in 2022/23, in which he scored 12 goals and provided four assists for a struggling side.
Hence, the potential exists if Roy can find the best way to harmoniously integrate the 28-year-old Guinea-Bissau international into his tactical setup.
Brest Winger Recruitment Strategy
Out wide, as mentioned, Brest said goodbye to Le Douaron this past summer but welcomed some serious quality to add to Romain Del Castillo in the wide positions.
Romain Faivre Radar Map
Romain Faivre has lit up Ligue 1 in the past — most recently with Lorient last season, which is where the data in our viz above is taken from — but also with Brest before, where he emerged as one of the league’s most sought-after talents thanks to his top-class performances in 2020/21 (six goals, five assists) and 2021/22 (seven goals, five assists in half a season before joining Lyon in January 2022).
An intelligent winger whose off-the-ball movement and positioning are some of his greatest assets, Faivre is at his best when given space ahead of him to carry the ball into.
He loves to break lines via his ball-carrying and will often drop deep to receive in the middle third in order to carry his team into the final third.
Faivre is comfortable playing on either wing, which is suitable for Éric Roy’s desire to switch his wingers up.
If a return to Stade Francis-Le Blé can take Faivre back to his stellar performances of his first stint with Les Pirates, then this will prove to be a very shrewd summer move.
According to Transfermarkt’s valuations, on-loan Faivre is Brest’s most valuable player.
He certainly has the potential to be a star for the Ligue 1 Champions League competitors this term if they can get the best from him in their system, as we saw Brest achieve in the past.
Abdallah Sima Radar Map
Abdallah Sima is coming off the back of a solid loan stint in the Scottish Premiership with Glasgow giants Rangers in 2023/24 in which he scored 11 league goals and provided two assists.
According to Total Football Analysis’ in-house league ranking system, the Scottish Premiership is a ‘Tier 4’ league.
Compared to other left-sided attacking midfielders from all Tier 4 leagues, Sima performed extremely well in several key attacking and defending metrics, including goal contributions per 90, xG contributions per 90, opposition penalty area touches per 90, aerial duels won %, defensive duels won %, and defensive positioning.
This data paints the picture of a winger who’s not only capable of creating when required in the final third but also well able to do the business at the other end of the pitch, support his full-back and assist his side in regaining possession.
You’d expect Brest to be on the back foot in Europe a fair bit this season, so these qualities could prove highly desirable in certain big games.
Sima is also a high-volume shooter, as his high shots per 90 percentile rank indicates, so we could see him potentially become a key goalscoring outlet for Brest this term if he can successfully convert his opportunities in France as he did in Scotland last season.
Ibrahim Salah Radar Map
Lastly, Ibrahim Salah is a left-winger who joined Brest on loan from Ligue 1 rivals Rennes this past summer.
He is the least experienced of the three wide attackers brought in by the Brittany club this summer.
Still, in his limited Ligue 1 minutes thus far, he has demonstrated a keen eye for goal, along with dribbling and creative abilities.
Salah also boasts some decent defensive numbers, making him a decent backup for Sima on the left side of the attack.
If nurtured well by Roy and his coaching staff, he should be able to offer a similar profile and potentially grow as a talent throughout the campaign.
Brest Centre-Back Recruitment Strategy
For our final section of this tactical analysis piece, we’ll examine how Brest approached their transfer business in the central defensive department.
Lilian Brassier left the club on an initial loan with an obligation to buy.
Brest relied heavily on the loan market for their centre-back recruitment this summer, with three central defenders arriving on loan in addition to Julian Le Cardinal, who made his way back to Stade Francis-Le Blé on a permanent deal, having been on loan last term.
Le Cardinal offers Brest versatility, which proved valuable last season when they operated with a particularly small squad.
It will also prove crucial this term with Europe to balance alongside their domestic competition.
The 27-year-old is comfortable on either side of centre-back, right-back and left-back, meaning he could fill in anywhere within the back four or even wing-back in a back-five; this makes him another player who gives his manager plenty of tactical options.
Lilian Brassier Radar Map
Brassier spent a few seasons developing at Brest, displaying desirable traits of a ball-playing centre-back, as his possession stats in the above radar suggest.
The 24-year-old Frenchman is happy to orchestrate play from deep and spread the ball far and wide around the pitch.
Meanwhile, in terms of his defending, Brassier is comfortable operating aggressively but has become better at picking and choosing his moments to step out and confront an attacker over the past couple of seasons.
At present, his profile is one of a reliable player in defensive duels who is constantly becoming increasingly intelligent about when to engage and when not to engage.
Shortly after Brassier’s departure from Brest to Marseille, they brought Abdoulaye Ndiaye in on loan from Troyes — the first of two players who’ll likely be vying for a starting spot at left centre-back in Brassier’s place for much of this season.
Abdoulaye Ndiaye Radar Map
With Troyes in Ligue 2 last season, Ndiaye was heavily involved in possession phases and performed reasonably well, though his progressive pass volume does leave room for improvement.
With regard to our defensive metrics, Ndiaye performed fairly well across the board with Troyes last term, as displayed by our viz.
After getting some time to acclimatise to Ligue 1, Ndiaye could prove an excellent addition for Brest this term in the left centre-back role, as could Soumaïla Coulibaly — another left centre-back signed on loan, this time from Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.
Soumaïla Coulibaly Radar Map
Coulibaly spent 2023/24 on loan in the Belgian Pro League with Royal Antwerp.
On the ball, he was extremely heavily involved and was quite a progressive defender with regard to his passing.
Though not a very active defender off the ball, he was relatively reliable, though ranked much higher in ‘defensive positioning’ (a metric which combines interceptions and tackles) than defensive duel success.
However, Coulibaly did leave a lot to be desired with regard to his aerial ability.
So, while the BVB man may offer more than Ndiaye on the ball, Ndiaye could be a safer bet as an actual defender if he can get up to speed with the level of the French top-flight.
Edimilson Fernandes also arrived with experience playing at centre-back, but like Le Cardinal, he’s another versatile player who can offer cover in a variety of positions, including the full-back positions and central midfield—once more, a profile that could be very important for Brest given their busy schedule this term and tight budget.
Conclusion
To conclude this data and recruitment analysis piece, Lorenzi and Brest did very well this past summer to stretch their budget to the extent they did and craft a fairly well-rounded squad while boosting the numbers and, crucially, the level of quality within their ranks ahead of a challenging campaign.
Lorenzi demonstrated the importance of clearly determining the profile one wants when scouting particularly well via their recruitment at centre-forward when looking to replace Mounié and Satriano and also at centre-back when searching for a Brassier replacement.
Meanwhile, they displayed how to make intelligent use of the loan market across the board to enhance the quality of the team without needing to splash the cash, in addition to intelligent recruitment of a couple of ‘utility players’ who can fill several different roles.
This transfer window will not guarantee Brest success in their endeavours this term, but it does set them up with a decent chance to show their quality on all fronts with quality and numbers well allocated around the squad—something the recruitment department and Sporting Director deserve plenty of credit for achieving.
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