Five Ligue 1 players Man Utd could sign this summer

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:37 CDT
• 5 min read

From Patrice Evra to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United have had significant success in signing players from France. Which other Ligue 1 players would be a good fit at Old Trafford?

Evra, who joined from Monaco for €8 million back in 2006, went on to make 379 appearances for the club, winning five Premier Leagues and a Champions League along the way.

Ibrahimovic arrived on a free from Paris Saint-Germain 10 years later, and although he only stayed for two seasons, his 29 goals and 10 assists in 53 games helped United to a Europa League and EFL Cup double in 2017.

READ: Man Utd takeover: Sheikh Jassim transfer budget revealed after $1bn boost

All told, 10 players have joined United from Ligue 1, Evra and Zlatan joined by Fabien Barthez, Edinson Cavani, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Radamel Falcao, Gabriel Heinze, Anthony Martial, Gabriel Obertan and William Prunier, with some fitting in better than others.

FootballTransfers teamed up with official partner SciSports to come up with a list of five players who would be bound to succeed at Old Trafford.

Youssouf Fofana (Monaco)

Youssouf Fofana could be the well-rounded central midfielder Erik ten Hag is looking for as he looks to build a squad capable of playing in the 4-3-3 system he used in leading Ajax to six major honours between 2019 and 2022.

Fofana has averaged two tackles and an interception per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 over the last year, but also seven progressive passes, making him an asset on both sides of the ball, much like Casemiro and Marcel Sabitzer. Now a fill France international, he is valued at €28.1m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm.

READ: Why Real Madrid should sign Fofana to partner Tchouameni

Jonathan David (Lille)

United's need for a No.9 is obvious. Wout Weghorst has failed to score a Premier League goal let alone replace Cristiano Ronaldo since joining on loan from Burnley, via Besiktas, in January, while 29-goal top scorer Marcus Rashford does his best work from the left flank.

Top targets Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen would cost well in excess of €100m, making Jonathan David a relative snip at €54m per FT. Only Kylian Mbappe (23) has more goals than the Canadian's 21 in Ligue 1 this season, and he is a bigger goal-threat than Monaco's Breel Embolo, whom SciSports database also threw up.

Lucas Chevalier (Lille)

Lucas Chevalier was Lille's third-choice goalkeeper when Lille shocked French football to win Ligue 1 at Paris Saint-Germain's expense in 2021, but he has blossomed since Mike Maignan left for AC Milan at the end of that season, and is now the undisputed No.1.

The 21-year-old is a ball-playing goalkeeper who has also kept nine clean sheets in the French top-flight this season. Now valued at €16.8m by FootballTransfers algorithm, he could be an affordable long-term successor to David de Gea.

Rayan Cherki (Lyon)

Rayan Cherki is often described as the most promising graduate from les Gones' fabled academy - which is high praise indeed considering it has produced Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette, Hatem Ben Arfa, Samuel Umtiti and others.

Cherki is a talented playmaker whose four successful take-ons and six shot-creating actions per game are more than any other attacking midfielder in the league can boast. Zinedine Zidane reportedly wanted Real Madrid to sign Cherki should he replace Carlo Ancelotti at the Bernabeu. Still just 19, Cherki would provide fine competition for Bruno Fernandes.

Maxence Caqueret (Lyon)

While Maxence Caqueret doesn't have an identical profile to Fofana, Cherki's Lyon teammate is another central midfielder who could fulfil more than one function at Man Utd, making him an asset for Ten Hag over the course of the season.

Caqueret has played at Nos.6, 8 and 10 for Lyon this season, with his three shot-creating actions per game putting him in the upper echelons among midfielder by that measure league-wide. Has drawn comparisons with Marco Verratti for his battling style despite his diminutive stature.