A tenth addition, confirmed on a Monday night
Le Mans FC confirmed the signing of Joao Almeida on Monday evening. The 20-year-old Brazilian arrives on loan from Coritiba. He plays as a left wing-back.
It is the youngster’s first move outside Brazil. A product of Coritiba’s academy, he is not arriving as a ready-made first-team fix and will initially join Le Mans’ youth setup to finish his development. The club framed the move as part of his progression, with no targets attached.
The timing is no coincidence. Almeida is the second player to arrive from Coritiba after Enzo Vagner. The two clubs sit under the same investment fund, Outfield, which makes the Brazil-to-Sarthe pipeline feel pretty natural.
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Nine signings, one million euros, and a very odd ownership list
The numbers are worth spelling out. Le Mans have signed nine players this summer for a total spend of 1 million euros. Habib Diallo, Louis Mafuta, Djibril Sidibe, Yasser Larouci, Billal Brahimi, Raul Torrente, Rayan Bamba, Daouda Traore and Enzo Vagner make up the list.
One million euros for nine arrivals works out at just over 110,000 euros a head. Plenty of clubs in France’s second tier spend more than that. The promoted side have clearly gone down the loan-and-free-agent route.
The contrast with the ownership group is almost comic. Le Mans now count tennis star Novak Djokovic and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois among their owners. Big names, small spending.
Fourteenth, and not panicking
The table tells the story. Le Mans sit 14th after the opening stretch of the season. For a newly promoted side that has barely spent a penny, that is a decent return.
Almeida will not change that picture overnight. He is coming to develop, not to plug an emergency gap. But a 20-year-old left wing-back learning the French game inside the club will cost a lot less than a January punt.
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