The Ligue 1 betting odds don’t leave an awful lot to be desired with Paris Saint-Germain running away with the title every year – except when they are managed by a former Spurs head coach… Just below top spot though, the battle for European football has been incredibly exciting.
Marseille and Monaco are the two teams who will join PSG in next season’s, with second place still to be decided. Regardless of whether Adi Hutter’s side match last year’s feat of finishing as runners up, it has still been a season to remember for Les Monegasques.
In this article we take a look at some of the players who have made 2024/25 a season to remember for Monaco fans.
Denis Zakaria
Since starting his professional career with Servette in 2014, Denis Zakaria has been linked to a host of top European clubs. After spells with Young Boys and Borussia Monchengladbach the Swiss midfielder finally got his big move to Juventus in 2022.
Unfortunately things didn’t work out for Zakaria there, or at his next club Chelsea, who he joined on loan in the second half of that campaign. His stunning performances since joining Monaco in 2023 suggest that the failure of those moves were more to do with the clubs he joined than the player himself.
Joining a settled and forward thinking club in Monaco has helped to reignite Zakaria’s career. Last year he was a vital cog in the team that finished second in the league and won the Coupe de France. This time around he has been equally impressive, providing the team with a solid base to build on in midfield.
Caio Henrique
Despite living in Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta’s world of inverted full-backs, the signing of one doesn’t really tend to excite fans. Unless of course, the signing happens to be of a Brazilian left-back and particularly one of Caio Henrique’s calibre.
His first season at Monaco was so successful that he attracted interest from PSG and Barcelona – the Catalan club renewed their interest once again this January. Fortunately for Les Monegasques he opted to stay with the club, racking up 134 league appearances in his five years in the principality.
This season he has been one of the team’s most potent attacking threats, chipping in with 6 assists – the third highest number in the squad – and a number of solid defensive performances.
(Henrique is one of the most underrated left-backs. Monaco fans will be hoping it stays that way this summer.)
Lamine Camara
Denis Zakaria’s performances in defensive midfield have allowed his partner in crime, Lamine Camara to showcase his considerable attacking talents. The 21-year-old Senegalese attacking midfielder joined from Metz last summer and has fit right into to Adi Hutter’s side.
Thus far he has registered 3 goals and 7 assists, whilst also constantly being a threat and a pivot for his teammates in the final third of the pitch. With attacking midfielders not typically reaching their full potential until much later in their career, the future certainly looks bright for Lamine Camara.
Maghnes Akilouche
Monaco are a club famed for bringing through young players, whether that be players like Kylian Mbappe who go on to play in the upper echelons of European football, or those like Adama Diakhaby who find themselves jettisoned by Huddersfield Town.
Fortunately Maghnes seems to share much more in common with the former camp than the latter. The 23-year-old had a superb breakthrough season last year and has built on it this time round, chipping in with 5 goals and 7 assists in the league.
On top of that, Akilouche found the back of the net twice in the Champions League against Red Star and no less than Barcelona. If the club can keep hold of him this season, we can expect big things from the youngster next year.
(Akilouche is the latest in a long line of talent to come out of Monaco.)
Mika Biereth
Born in London to a Danish/German father and a Bosnian mother, Biereth started his career at Fulham before moving on to Arsenal. A series of loan spells in the Netherlands, Scotland and Austria followed before a permanent switch to Sturm Graz in 2024 for a reported €4.7 million.
11 goals in 16 appearances in the first half of the season alerted Monaco, who brought him to France for a huge €13 million which could rise to €15 million with add-ons. Biereth hasn’t let that price tag weigh him down though. In his 15 league appearances so far he has found the back of the net 13 times and also chipped in with 2 assists.
If his performances so far in a Monaco shirt are anything to go by, we can look forward to a season of goals, goal, goals next time round!
