Goalkeepers: The market is as lively as ever
Often considered a market unto itself the goalkeeping market is once again a hot topic this summer transfer window, with more than 25 moves, many involving (very) young players - Robin Risser to Lens, Yehvann Diouf to Nice, Hervé Koffi to SCO, Arnaud Bodart to LOSC, and more also some rumors regarding the uncertain future of Steve Mandanda, the return of Mory Diaw to the top flight (HAC), and the attention paid to this market by AS Monaco to compete with Philipp Köhn.
In terms of departures, several major players have already been confirmed, including Marcin Bulka, who had been an Aiglon for four seasons, Arthur Desmas and Mathieu Gorgelin from HAC, Ala'a Bellaarouch from Strasbourg, and Alexandre Oukidja from Metz. Others, such as Djordje Petrovic (RCSA) and Mathew Ryan (RCL), are expected to arrive a year or even less after their arrival, while Yahia Fofana (SCO) could also be moving on.
All this confirms that over the past ten seasons, Ligue 1 McDonald's clubs have experienced a certain turnover at goalkeeper level. They no longer hesitate to invest in talented players.
Over this period, Anthony Lopes, with his 302 appearances for OL, stands out as an exception, having by far the longest tenure with a single team. But even he eventually changed his jersey, joining FC Nantes last summer.
Djordje Petrovic had a great Ligue 1 24/25 🇷🇸👏 pic.twitter.com/Uh4LKA9M7F
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) July 16, 2025
A year ago, a total of fifteen goalkeepers were signed by a Ligue 1 McDonald's club, including three from RC Lens, which repeated that this summer (Risser, Gurtner, and Fortin), and two for OM and Nantes. And among them, five were starters (Petrovic, Samba, Rulli, Lopes, Ryan) out of the 36 goalkeepers who have donned the gloves to play in the top flight in 2024/25.
Faced with this omnipresent rotation, the 17 goalkeepers who changed clubs during the offseason only played 35% of the matches (out of 612 in 2024/25). The same applied in 2023/24, when 16 goalkeepers were part of the summer signings list. This high number confirms the trend among elite clubs. Here too, the majority of these new arrivals were not number ones. Lucas Perri became the number one the following season at Olympique Lyonnais, and Philippe Köhn (AS Monaco) made the most appearances that season (22).
The other season with the highest turnover in the goalkeeping position was 2022/23, when 24 different goalkeepers played for a new club in Ligue 1 McDonald's. This is a record since the 2009/2010 season.
Three summers ago, 13 new starters representing 11 teams arrived, led by Brice Samba (RCL), Pau Lopez (OM), Steve Mandanda (SRFC), Kasper Schmeichel (OGCN), Lucas Chevalier (LOSC), and Yehvann Diouf (SdR). Together, they accounted for half of the matches played by goalkeepers during the season (49%). A percentage never before seen in the entire 21st century in Ligue 1 McDonald's.
At what age do goalkeepers start with their new team?
Contrary to what might appear from the performances of Chevalier (23) and Guillaume Restes (20), confidence in young goalkeepers is no greater than it was ten years ago. Young goalkeepers reaching number one status were already evident in 2014/15, with Areola at Bastia (22), Hassen at Nice (20), and Ahamada at TFC (23).
Compared to ten seasons ago, this youthfulness was slightly less evident among the most frequently used goalkeepers. Of the five players who played in every match over the past two seasons (14/15 and 24/25), only one was over 29 (Rulli), and three were under 26 (Chevalier, Diouf, and Bulka) in 2024/25, compared to two in their thirties (Mandanda and Vercoutre) and two under 25 in 2014/15.
And of those who played at least half of the matches in Ligue 1 McDonald's, only four were over 30 last season (Bizot, Rulli, Lecomte, and Léon), compared to six ten years ago.
However, the differences are disappearing regarding the age of the goalkeepers who played in more than a third of the matches, with a common average of 28.
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