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AS Monaco manager Thierry Henry informed journalists in this afternoon’s press conference ahead of this weekend’s match with Dijon that he has banished multiple 1st team players to the reserves because they are not invested enough in the club’s cause to avoid relegation from Ligue 1.

“We will have to see. There were not many people at training yesterday (Wednesday). We will see today (Thursday). We must react at Dijon (to the embarrassing Coupe de France loss to Ligue 2 side Metz on Tuesday). We are in a critical situation, sadly, that has not changed. We have cut the squad down to size. At one point or another, you need guys who want to save the club, not just think about their own futures. We have done some sorting. We are going to war.”

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Téléfoot report this morning that Leonardo Jardim had received an offer from an unnamed English side in recent days, but decided to return to Monaco to attempt to save the Principality club from relegation to Ligue 2.

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This mysterious offer is not adjudged to have been from Leicester City, who had however placed the Portuguese technician on their shortlist to replace Claude Puel, were the Frenchman to face the sack.

Jardim will receive €4m a year net on his new 2.5 year Monaco contract, the same amount he was earning before he was sacked, on top of the €8m in severance pay that he received for being sacked in the middle of last October.

The return of Jardim also marks the renewed power of Jorge Mendes on the Principality, who is responsible for the imminently confirmed arrivals of Gelson Martins (Atletico Madrid) and Carlos Vinicius (Napoli).

Monaco continue to advance on Lille midfielder Thiago Mendes (26), with just hours remaining of this January window.

Speaking to RMC Sport after losing 3-1 at the Parc des Princes to Manchester United in a result that knocked PSG out of the Champions’ League, captain Thiago Silva had the following to say.

“It is difficult to speak now, it is very fresh. It is a shame… we executed the match well over there, we played very well. But at home, we did not do the things that we said before. It is a shame that it stops here, we had a good run. And once again, it stops here. This was a match of the highest level. That is football. Real Madrid went out to Ajax having beaten them 2-1 in the 1st leg. We worked hard for today and we never gave up.”

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“I just want to ask for forgiveness from our supporters… They had three referees and all three gave the penalty. It is a shame, we did not have the time to react, even during the 90 minutes, we didn’t do it… Each time that we fall, we must quickly get ourselves back up. But we have to continue. We still have the league, even if we are already nearly champions.”

L’Équipe Magazine have revealed their latest French Sportsperson Rich List for 2019, as Antoine Griezmann tops the pile for the 1st time ever. The headline amount detailed for each individual is the amount of earnings pre-tax over the last 12 month period.

1 | Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid – Footballer) – €33m | + €13.9m [Up 2 places]

Paul Pogba finished top in 2018, at €22.2m – the midfielder dethroned basketball player Tony Parker, capitalising on his luxury contract with Manchester United. Griezmann has been able to jump to the top of this year’s list after profiting from the battle between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for his services, providing him with a €1.7m a month salary net with Atleti, double the amount he received in his previous contract (€833k a month net).

This resulted in Griezmann earning €15m a year net in 2018 purely from salary – no French sportsperson has ever earned that much from purely salary over a 12 month period. With the 45% tax rate in Madrid, that translates into €27m a year gross.

In 2019, when this new contract will be enforced over all 12 months of the year, if Griezmann stays at Atleti, he will collect €20m a year net purely from salary.

Other earnings pick-ups in 2018 included sponsorship deals with Gillette, Puma, Huawei and Head & Shoulders, as well as the €400k World Cup winning bonus from the French Football Federation, as well as other add-ons from Atletico Madrid, notably for winning the Europa League.

2 | Kylian Mbappé (PSG – Footballer) – €24.7m | + €14.1m [Up 9 places]

The generation-defining talent has enjoyed his 1st full 12 months of PSG salary (€1.55m a month gross last season, up now to €1.73m a month gross), making him the second highest paid player at PSG behind only Neymar. On the sponsorship deals side, his contracts with Nike and watch-maker Hublot enable him to pocket an additional €4m a year.

3 | Paul Pogba (Manchester United – Footballer) – €22.1m | – €0.1m [Down 2 places]

The “Pog” has had another stable 12 months financially – his salary at Manchester United has not increased sinc elast year, sticking at £290k a week, €1.4m a month gross. Since the departure of José Mourinho, Pogba is enjoying himself with the Red Devils, and the outlet speculates that the Frenchman could sign a contract extension in the coming months. The confirmation of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager on a permanent basis should help the midfielder’s decision making.

Pogba’s contract with Adidas, worth €40m over 10 years, was recently renegotiated to the Frenchman’s financial benefit, after he became a World Cup winner. Like all of his World Champion colleagues, Pogba received his €400k bonus from the FFF. His earnings are down this year only because the value of sterling has dropped against the Euro with the continued Brexit uncertainty.

4 | Karim Benzema (Real Madrid – Footballer) – €22m | + €5.7m [Up 1 place]

Even without becoming a World Cup winner, the 31-year-old Real Madrid attacker has had a bountiful last 12 months – Benzema extended his contract, in September 2017 (until 2021) with earnings tied to his performances and that of the club. And the 2017/18 season went relatively well (a 3rd Champions’ League in a row, Club World Cup, 2 super cups), which individually, as bonuses, produced an impressive return for Benz, who earned €18m gross in salary and bonuses from Real Madrid over the last 12 months. Benzema remains the international icon of Adidas also, a deal that earns him €2.5m a year.

5 | Nicolas Batum (Basketball player) – €20.9m | + €2m [Down 1 place]

6 | Rudy Gobert (Basketball player) – €20.6m | + €15.2m [Up 32 places]

7 | Ousmane Dembélé (FC Barcelona – Footballer) – €19.1m | + €8.4m [Up 3 places]

8 | Joakim Noah (Basketball player) – €17.5m | + €1.4m [Down 2 places]

9 | Evan Fournier (Basketball player) – €15.2m | = [Down 2 places]

10 | Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich – Footballer) – €14.3m | + €0.4m [Up 1 place]

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L’Équipe report that Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez met with two representatives from Lyon-based football agency Score Agencies on the 6th March in Manchester – the meeting resulted in the Spaniard signing a contract with the agency which gives them the exclusive rights to manage his interests in France until 1st September 2019.

The Magpies have offered Benitez a new two-year contract, which he does not appear to have responded to. In this meeting in Manchester with Score Agencies, Benitez was accompanied by his lawyer and advisor Richard Green, who replaced the ex-Liverpool manager’s previous long-term agent Manuel Garcia Quilon in October 2017.

Benitez is not ruling out the possibility of signing a new deal with Newcastle, but he knows that he will not be given the financial backing required to challenge the top 6 in the Premier League if he does.

The French market is attractive and open for Benitez. Rumours have emerged in recent days that Marseille will move to fire manager Rudi Garcia if the club fails to land a Champions’ League place for the second consecutive season. Marseille have never shied away from going after foreign managers in the past, and the potential arrival of Benitez could convince Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta to stay, who is currently considering an approach from Arsenal.

The other credible option in France is Lyon, with President Aulas announcing earlier this week that manager Bruno Génésio’s contract extension offer has been pulled for the time being after the club failed to make the Coupe de France final. The Lyon President prefers for managers to work with pre-existing coaching staff already at the club, which Benitez would not be opposed to – he likes travelling and wherever he goes next he is willing to only bring his fitness coach Paco De Miguel if that’s all that he is allowed to bring.

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Benitez also speaks French, which would assuage fears on Aulas’ side about hiring someone who isn’t French for the job, because he typically views that as an increased risk if there is a language barrier involved.

Speaking to Le Parisien, PSG attacker Kylian Mbappé’s father discussed the media intensity around his son.

“Before I read and watched everything, but not anymore. It is like a chocolate cake, if you eat too much, then you have an upset stomach. Sometimes, there is also disinformation. Ok, Kylian is a public person, but I do not understand why everyday there are things written a about him. It is annoying.”

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He also discussed who his favourite manager was and who his second favourite player after his son was:

“Guardiola! You get the impression that he is constantly innovating. For me, football is a show. Sadly, too many coaches forget that. When I hear players after a match says that “we were solid”, that frustrates me. I would prefer to watch a 5-4 than a 1-0.”

“My favourite player is Kylian and my second favourite is Mbappé! Even if I take away the fact that he is my son, to see him play gives me so much joy. I loved Ronaldo the Brazilian, Zidane, Pelé, Maradona, Cruyff and Ronaldinho. I also love Neymar. To see him play with Kylian is a guarantee that you are watching a show. I go to the stadium to feast my eyes and to be lifted from my seat!”

Marseille owner Frank McCourt was in the stands on Sunday night to watch his side limply lose to Nantes 2-1 at the Vélodrome and thus see any realistic hopes of bringing Champions’ League football to the Mediterranean side next season extinguished.

It turns out that McCourt, for the first time during his ownership, actually addressed the players before this match, arriving at the club’s training centre by helicopter to speak with President Jacques-Henri Eyraud and then the players, according to RMC:

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“I am very disappointed by your performances. React. Quickly be back to the level of this club, worthy of this shirt before thinking about your future. I can also decide to not let you go elsewhere, even if big offers are made.”

After this warning, it is fair to say that things did not go to plan – a serious lack of character shown by OM saw them lose to a mid-to-bottom of the table side that have been riddled with difficulties during this campaign. The atmosphere at the Vél was tense – banners put up in the south stand demanding that the entire board resign and chants against Eyraud and manager Rudi Garcia being sung regularly throughout the 90 minutes.

The American entrepreneur’s entourage claims that the owner: “will do the post-mortem with his teams at the end of the season and take the decisions that he views as necessary.”

McCourt is especially annoyed with the €25m summer spend on Kevin Strootman, seeing this player now spend most of the season on the bench. Officially, McCourt still believes in his president, Eyraud, and he views it to be his responsibility to make a decision on the future of manager Rudi Garcia.

Eyraud himself is starting to doubt the future of the ex-Lille and AS Roma boss – he believes that the players are no longer giving their all for Garcia, but views it “detestable” the attitude that the fans and journalists have, to question the future of the coach upon the slightest poor performance. Eyraud did not enter the dressing room on Sunday to say hello to the staff and players, which is a rarity, as he regularly does so.

Internally, Garcia thinks that he can ride this rough patch, telling players after Sunday’s defeat: “We are not dead, there are still 12 points to play off, we must win at Strasbourg!”

It is inescapable: certain players have given up on the manager – you can see that in the attitudes of the squad after the defeat on Sunday: whilst Ocampos, Sakai and Germain were trying to hype the players up about how they let down the club with their performances as a collective, some did not seem to care about the defeat and left the stadium with ironic smiles. A source close to the dressing room said:

“For the players, and more largely at the heart of the club, most want this to end, for things to change, and even think that it would be a bad thing for a good thing if we don’t qualify for European football.”

Rudi Garcia in the meantime is acting like he will be at Marseille next season – he is looking at a pre-season schedule, sometimes approaching players about their intentions for next season. Players don’t know how to respond to their French coach, with the manager’s job appearing totally and utterly on the line.

RMC Sport report that a handful of Ligue 1 captains failed to abide by the request of the LFP governing body last night to wear multi-coloured armbands in a sign of respect to the LGBTQ+ community.

Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco), Jérémy Morel (Lyon) and Fayçal Fajr (Caen) started the match with a normal armband. Others, like Edinson Cavani (PSG) and Valentin Rongier (Nantes) wore the armband for the 1st 45 minutes, before taking it off for the second half.

In Toulouse vs Marseille, Dimitri Payet and Max-Alain Gradel combined the two: wearing both at the same time, the regular one covering half of the multi-coloured one, with Gradel taking the latter off at some point during the contest.

So why was the league’s request not respect? People responding to RMC were quick to deny that it had anything to do with ideology. A source at Caen said Fajr must have simply forgotten to put it on: “In matches like this (where you are playing for survival), you don’t think about anything else. Fayçal must have forgotten it…”

Other players claim that it was too big and armband and was uncomfortable – this was apparently the case for Edinson Cavani (PSG) and Valentin Rongier (Nantes), the latter explaining: “It was not holding very well. I had to take it off after 20 minutes. But it was a good idea, like when we wore multi-coloured laces.”

At Monaco, Falcao viewed the armband to be too big to fit on his biceps. So manager Leonardo Jardim, on the touchline, wore it instead: “I used Falcao’s armband. What’s important is that someone from the club wore it and applied what the league demanded.”

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TF1 report that Ligue 1 champions PSG have turned their attention back to Everton to sign 29-year-old Senegalese international midfielder Idrissa Gueye.

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Negotiations for Napoli’s 28-year-old Brazilian midfielder Allan are not advancing, with the Serie A club demanding €80m in order to sell the player, according to Paris United. Allan has a provisional contract agreement with Paris already, and has had it for multiple months, but de Laurentiis is not budging on the valuation.

As a result, PSG will look to Gueye again, according to the outlet, with whom discussions never stopped after the failed attempt to sign the player in January.

Our colleagues at Soccer Link report that Marseille goalkeeping coach Stéphane Cassard is set to quit the club this summer.

The former Strasbourg shot-stopper is in the process of negotiating with OM representatives to terminate the final two years of his contract and receive a pay-off.

He arrived at OM in 2014 from Valenciennes.

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