This is taken from the GFFN 100, our leading 150-page FREE publication ranking the best 100 players in France, see the full list and read every profile right here.

French centre-half Gerzino Nyamsi’s stock has risen markedly over the last year or so with Strasbourg. His efforts at the heart of coach Julien Stéphan’s back three were vital in ensuring Strasbourg kept their European dreams alive until the final day of last season. His absence due to injury this pre-season was felt as Strasbourg suffered a tough start to the Ligue 1 campaign, where they currently sit 19th after 15 games played.

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Nyamsi, born in Brittany and of Cameroonian descent, came through the youth ranks under Stéphan at Rennes and was one of Stéphan’s first signings as Strasbourg coach. Nyamsi, aged 24 at the time, was struggling for game time in a Rennes side who were enjoying their debut Champions League campaign. In his first year and a half in Alsace, however, it’s clear to see what Stéphan saw in the centre-back who has repaid the trust shown in him by his manager.

Nyamsi is a tall, no-nonsense defender, who primarily operates as a right centre-back in a four or in the centre of a back three. At 192cm, he is a key man for both attacking and defensive set pieces, and it is clear that Strasbourg have highlighted him as the man to aim for from in such situations as he ranks in the top 8% of defenders for shots taken per 90 minutes over the last year.

This summer, with teams looking to poach Strasbourg’s talent and the Alsatian side hoping to balance the books post-COVID, it was reported that West Ham were interested in Nyamsi. However, nothing came of this and no concrete offer was ever submitted. The Hammers eventually opted for Morocco and Rennes’ defender Nayef Aguerd instead. Leeds United and Newcastle were also reported to be eyeing up a move for Strasbourg’s star centre half, but again, no offer was made. However, should his form of last season return in 2023, the coming off-season will likely see further interest.

James Evans | GFFN

Paris Saint-Germain’s unbeaten run came to an end on New Year’s Day, as they fell to a Lens side that has firmly established themselves as their likely title challengers.

The hosts struck first as Frankowski finished off an impressive, sweeping move at the back post, before Christophe Galtier’s men equalised minutes later as Hugo Ekitike bundled in from close range – despite Lens claiming the young forward had kicked the ball out of Brice Samba’s hands, the goal was allowed to stand.

But the PSG defence continued to struggle, and Loïs Openda took full advantage of that when Séko Fofana set him away on the counter, leaving Sergio Ramos in his wake, and chopping inside before finishing past Donnarumma to give the hosts the lead again. A frail and open defence would be carved open yet again at the start of the second half, as Openda found Alexis Claude-Maurice with an exceptional backheel in the box to set up the forward for a close-range finish.

Franck Haise’s men once again had the champions’ number, and now go up to within four points of the Parisians after a festive evening. The club was celebrating its annual Sainte-Barbe match, honouring the patron saint of miners in reflection of the club’s industrial heritage – they’ve dug up a famous win tonight.

PSG

Gianluigi Donnarumma, 5

Achraf Hakimi, 4

Marquinhos, 4

Sergio Ramos, 3 – Appeared unable to keep up with Lens’ lightning-quick counters and changes in direction – left in Openda’s wake for the second goal.

Nordi Mukiele, 5

Danilo, 5

Marco Verratti, 5

Fabián Ruiz, 4 – Scarcely at ease in the midst of the Lens pressing machine, and lost the ball in front of the penalty area in the build-up to the third Lens goal.

Carlos Soler, 4 – Understandably unable to replicate Neymar’s influence, but being the link between PSG’s midfield and attack does seem like to extensive a role for the Spaniard, who had little impact to speak of before being replaced by Ismaël Gharbi.

Kylian Mbappé, 5 – Shackled by an imposing Lens defence and struggled to create much on his own, despite his best efforts – PSG’s attack somewhat disoriented in the absences of Neymar and Lionel Messi.

Hugo Ekitike, 6 – Scored his second goal for the club but was unable to have more of an impact on the game. Replaced by the 16-year-old Warren Zaïre-Emery, who made a good impression.

Lens

Brice Samba, 6 – Scrambled for Hugo Ekitike’s goal, but made up for the error and proved decisive for the rest of the game, notably with a sensational point-blank save from Pablo Sarabia’s header.

Jonathan Gradit, 7

Kevin Danso, 7

Facundo Medina, 7

Przemysław Frankowski, 7

Séko Fofana, 7 – Once again, the midfield maestro is the game-changer against Paris Saint-Germain and the architect of his team’s lightning fast transitions – showing once again he is among the league’s best. A pin-point assist for Openda the highlight of his performance.

Salis Abdul Samed, 6

Massadio Haïdara, 6

Florian Sotoca, 6

Alexis Claude-Maurice, 7

Loïs Openda, 8 – Kept both Marquinhos and Sergio Ramos occupied throughout, wheeling away from the Spaniard before getting past the Brazilian to score in the first half, before setting up the third.

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According to Le Parisien, PSG have decided against celebrating Lionel Messi’s World Cup triumph for his return to the Parc des Princes. This Wednesday, the Ligue 1 leaders face bottom-placed Angers for gameweek 18 and the Argentina playmaker has been named in the squad. The Parisian club has already celebrated Messi by giving him a guard of honour with his teammates and the club staff for his return at the Camp des Loges on January 4th.

A guard of honour for our World Champion! 👏❤️💙#BravoLeo pic.twitter.com/OHIkKALbUl

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 4, 2023

The 35-year-old world champion was also handed a trophy engraved with a golden star by Luis Campos, PSG’s sporting advisor. PSG reportedly considers that such a celebration was sufficient and highlights that the World Cup final against France was now more than three weeks ago. Le Parisien adds that a pre-game tribute could take place in honour of former midfielder Modeste M’Bami and former PSG podiatrist Gilles Watelle, who recently passed away. Messi sat out the PSG win at Châteauroux last Friday in the Coupe de France. But he should start against the Anjou side alongside Neymar. Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi are expected to return to training this Thursday.

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According to sources contacted by Get French Football News, FC Lorient’s Enzo Le Fée (22) is uninterested in a move to Premier League side Bournemouth. 

As reported by Le Parisien, Bournemouth are looking to pull off a double swoop. The Premier League side are nearing the completion of the deal for Dango Ouattara, and are also looking to bring in his teammate Le Fée. 

Bill Foley, who only recently purchased Bournemouth, has also acquired a 33% share of the Ligue 1 club, which is helping facilitate the transfer of Ouattara. However, whilst that move looks to be heading in a positive direction, Le Fée seems less keen on a move to Bournemouth, where he would find himself embroiled in a relegation battle. 

According to sources contacted by Get French Football News, Le Fée hasn’t appreciated attempts made by certain stakeholders to attempt to move him in the direction of the South Coast club. The France U21 is, therefore, currently uninterested in a move. 

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Chelsea have submitted their opening offer for Lyon full-back Malo Gusto, according to Foot Mercato this afternoon, of which the figure has yet to transpire. Les Gones, though, are adamant that they want to keep hold of their defensive prospect through this transfer window.

There remains the possibility that the spendthrift Premier League outfit will come back with an offer too good to turn down,  even if the prospect of a departure is not at the front of the player’s mind.

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The French youth international right-back is an undisputed starter in Laurent Blanc’s struggling side, having become a regular for Lyon after taking over Léo Dubois’ spot in the team midway through last season. Overall, the 19-year-old has 54 appearances for his formative club’s senior side in all competitions, notching six assists in that time as he continues to establish himself as one of the most sought-after full-back prospects on the continent.

Lyon is being snubbed by yet another transfer target, Tunisian midfielder Ellyes Skhiri, at least for now. According to L’Équipe, the Ligue 1 club made progress with the 27-year-old Cologne midfielder over the last few days, but in the end, the former Montpellier man decided to stay in Germany. 

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This news will come with great disappointment to OL as they have now failed to bring in two of their top targets for the winter window. There is still hope for the French club, however. It seems the chance of moving to Lyon in January was too great for a player for values his family-life balance.

If Rhône based club are still interested in Skhiri he will be available as a free transfer after the season, but with reports of several German clubs’ interest, they will face heavy competition to sign him in the summer. The real difficulty for OL  is there are only three days left in the transfer window for them to sign at least a midfielder. 

Bodø/Glimt Norwegian youth international attacking midfielder Joel Mugisha Mvuka (20) has failed his Lorient medical, according to a report from Foot Mercato. The Brittany outfit were in the running for the young Norwegian prospect and reportedly struck a €7m deal with the Norwegians, and Mvuka was set for a four-and-a-half year deal with Les Merlus. He scored one goal and registered two assists in eight league games, and also found the net in the Champions League qualifyng rounds.

The move has now fallen through, with the player failing his medical. Ouest-France report that Mvuka had been diagnosed with a heart condition, an irregular heartbeat, that almost compromised his playing career three years ago, but could resume his career after additional medical exams. Foot Mercato adds that Ligue 1’s surprise package this season are currently exploring alternative options, as Lorient are looking for a fourth January signing. Les Merlus have signed Udinese midfielder Jean-Victor Makengo (24) over a record €13m signing and wantaway Marseille winger Bamba Dieng (22). Lyon’s out-of-favour midfielder Romain Faivre (24) arrived on a loan move.

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In the wake of Nicolas Cozza’s (24) departure to Wolfsburg, Montpellier considered signing Borussia Dortmund left-back Nico Schulz (29) on loan, according to L’Équipe. 

Cozza left the Ligue 1 strugglers to join the Bundesliga club early in the transfer window. Montpellier were therefore in the market for a replacement throughout the month of January. Ultimately, the club signed Toulouse’s Issiaga Sylla (29), who arrived on deadline day, singing a two-and-a-half-year deal. He arrived at Montpellier on a free after Toulouse released him from the remaining six months of his contract.

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However, before signing the Guinean international, Montpellier had considered Borussia Dortmund’s Schulz. The left-back, who has 12 caps for the German national team, hasn’t played for the Bundesliga side this season. Montpellier’s sporting director Bruno Carotti initiated talks and discussed the financial aspects of the potential loan before manager Romain Pitau pulled the plug on the deal, citing sporting reasons.

Dion Dublin named five of the Big Six as being in the running for a top four finish, snubbing Manchester United in favour of a shock candidate.

United have won five of their last seven Premier League games, including victories over Liverpool and Arsenal, after back-to-back defeats to start their campaign.

But Erik ten Hag’s side have been completely ignored by Dublin as he reeled off the usual suspects for Champions League qualification, as well as Brighton, who have picked up just two points in four games under Roberto De Zerbi and have failed to score in their last three.

Dublin told Express: “I would still say that Liverpool will find their way to the top four. They’ll go on a run of games very, very soon. They’ll win four, five, six, seven in a row, or they won’t lose in seven or eight in a row, and they’ll find themselves picking up, you know, the odd 20 points here, 25 points there. They’re so good [and] they’ve got so many good players that they will find their way back.

“It’s so tough to call the top four because I expect Liverpool to be there. I mean, you’re looking at teams like Chelsea. At the moment, they’re looking good. Graham Potter has got them playing relaxed football, and they’re all smiling while they’re playing, which is very rare for a Chelsea team. They’re all enjoying their football, and it’s making a huge difference to their results as well.

“So you know, City, obviously, Liverpool, it’s going to take a massive task for them to get back to where they need to be, but they’ve got everything they need. Chelsea have turned a corner [and] Arsenal are top of the tree. Antonio Conte and Spurs, I mean, I could go on. Outside as well… Brighton are playing some good stuff. I’m glad it’s so open, to be honest with you. I’m glad there are teams in and around the top 10 that you probably wouldn’t expect to be there, and I’m glad because it just makes it a little bit more interesting.”

United take on Tottenham at Old Trafford on Wednesday and could fall six points off the top four if they’re beaten.

And Dublin believes Antonio Conte’s side will get the job done against the Red Devils.

“I think it’s a difficult one for United,” Dublin admitted. “United have got more than enough when it comes to quality, but I just think Spurs have got that Antonio Conte [character], especially in midfield. They’ve got a bit of grit in there, a bit of anger. You know, they’ve got some physical presence in there and looking up top, Son and Kane, they do what they do, they score goals.

“But having a coach like Antonio Conte, you can’t rest on your laurels. You can’t sit on your heels. You’ve got to stay on the front foot all the time. That’s what they’re doing, Spurs, they’re playing some good stuff, scoring some good goals, and they’ve got an ugly side to their game where they’re doing well. So United are going to find it really difficult against Spurs, but they’ve got enough in their locker.”

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