Know your next superclub: A.S. Monaco

In December 2011 a Russian Billionaire named Dmitry Rybolovlev – owner of potash fertilizer company Urakali bought 66 percent stakes in a French, Ligue 2 club.

Fast forward 2 years and the club is crowned the 2013 Ligue 2 champions and in turn gained automatic promotion to Ligue 1.

The story doesn’t end here, weeks after their promotion the club backed by Rybolovlev has already shelled out a combined $173 Million on Radamel Falcao, Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez and Ricardo Carvalho. What’s more, there are reports that the club is planning to make an audacious 100 million-euro bid for Cristiano Ronaldo.

That club is – AS Monaco, yes don’t stress your brain too much remembering them, because you might haven’t heard much of them before but you are surely going to.

Now, before you go out lashing to your friends about how another rich Russian dude is destroying the footballing culture with his giant pockets or how real football clubs are those who thrive on their youth systems, there are a few things you need to know about the club.

History

Although Les Rouge et Blanc (English: The Red and White) were bought by Dmitry when they were stumbling in Ligue 2, they are one of the most successful clubs in French soccer history with 7 league titles and 5 Coupes de France.

This year, after they were crowned as Ligue 2 champions this year, A.S. Monaco have now won all major domestic trophies in French League Soccer. Surprisingly, they are also the only French club to make the Championship League Finals apparence (2004) this decade.

The most astonishing fact about the club you need to know is that after finishing second in Ligue 1 in 2003, they were demoted to Ligue 2 by the French Professional League for amassing a €50 million ($68 million) debt. However, after appeals this was reduced to a ban on purchasing players. Still under all the financial stress, the club manged to finish third the following year and somehow made it to the UEFA Champions League Final beating the likes of Chelsea & Real Madrid along their way.

Their relegation was also just a matter of bad luck as the bottom half of the table (specifically teams 10th to 18th) were just separated by 5 points, although it also proved a blessing in disguise as Dmitry bought the club 7 months after their relegation.
Now that you know something about the great footballing history of Les Rouge et Blanc, lets take a look at notable former players.

Notable Former Players

The most honorable player to ever play in the Youth Squad of Monaco is Thierry Henry. The Frenchman, who is touted as one of the greatest strikers to ever step on the footballing field, started playing for Monaco Youth Soccer team at the age of 15, he continued to play for the French giants till the age of 17. After that, he was promoted to the senior squad, where he spent 6 years, playing 105 games and scoring 20 goals before eventually being transferred to the Old Lady in Italy.

Eric Abidal, who won a combined 21 titles with Lyon & Barcelona, started his club career with Monaco B squad, a year later he was promoted to the A.S. Monaco, where he played two solid years before being traded to Lille.

Although Patrice Evra started his club career with Marsala, Monza & Nice (4 years combined), it was his 4 years stint (02-06) at Monaco where he gained invaluable experience of playing at the highest level and garnered major interests from bigger club, he was eventually picked up by Manchester United for a measly £5.5 million.