They were not yet all established as indisputable starters, but already considered prospects with high potential. This winter, Ligue 1 saw George Ilenikhena (19 years old), Kader Meïté (18 years old), Robinio Vaz (18 years old), Sidiki Chérif (19 years old) and Brian Madjo (17 years old) leave in quick succession. Five pure center forwards, none having exceeded 1,500 minutes in the French elite, so how can we explain this phenomenon?
An urgent context of readjustment
Between injuries, sporting goals in danger and market opportunities, the winter transfer window proved to be, as usual, an ideal window for urgent adjustments. George Ilenikhena, made official at the last minute, went to Al-Ittihad to compensate for the departure of Karim Benzema, who will join Kader Meïté at the Saudi leader, Al-Hilal. In Italy, AS Roma, affected by injuries to Artem Dovbyk and Evan Ferguson, relied on Robinio Vaz to strengthen their attack in the short and long term. Sidiki Chérif, long announced as leaving, landed at Fenerbahçe, in anticipation of the departures of Jhon Durán and Youssef En-Nesyri. As for the very young Brian Madjo, Aston Villa saw him as a nugget to be seized without delay.
A center forward market under pressure
The context of the winter transfer window is not the only explanation. For several years, the market for center forwards has continued to panic the transfer windows with increasingly crazy amounts. This summer, Liverpool paid 245 million euros for Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitiké. The French international stands out on the other side of the Channel, decisive 19 times in 32 matches in all competitions, today he is the delight of the Reds. Like Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle and Arsenal followed suit by investing significant sums in Benjamin Šeško, Nick Woltemade and Victor Gyökeres, three center forwards with more mixed records. Mateo Retegui and Victor Osimhen broke the transfer amount records of Al-Qadsiah and Galatasaray. In the summer transfer window at the start of the season alone, more than 600 million euros were spent on these seven center forwards.
Real number 9s, capable of making physical impact, playing opponents with their backs to goal and converting almost instantly in the box are a rare commodity, this shortage favors the rise in prices for this position and makes it a strategic axis for clubs. Now, it only takes a few appearances in the elite for clubs to invest in increasingly young profiles, Brian Madjo only needed 157 minutes in Ligue 1 for Aston Villa to go on the offensive with a view to not having to pay two or even three times the price a few years later.
This phenomenon is also visible for players who have not yet passed the stage of adult football, playing in the youth categories, in the summer of 2025 alone, ten young center forwards joined foreign professional clubs. In England, two talents from the 2007 generation, Enzo Kana-Biyik and Mahamadou Sangaré, left the training centers of Le Havre and Paris SG after very convincing seasons in U19 National to join rivals Manchester United and Manchester City, and the examples are still numerous.
For the 2024/25 season, Noah Codjo-Evora, spotted in U17 National with FC Annecy, signed with Bayern Munich in the summer of 2024, but his adaptation was unfortunately slowed down by frequent injuries. For his part, Exaucé Mafoumbi did not establish himself in England and bounced around in the Swiss second division, before being loaned to the third division. The Franco-Moroccan Essad Ouhssakou, spotted in U19 National in Bergerac by Fribourg, is having a more interesting 2025/26 season with 10 contributions in 12 matches in the German U19 championship.
Foreign financial power attracts clubs and players
This series of departures can also be explained by the emergence of much more financially powerful championships. In Saudi Arabia, clubs are now directing their investments towards youth, the workforce has generally become younger during this 2025/26 season. In Türkiye, the clubs of Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray no longer hesitate to invest amounts comparable to the big Saudi and English teams.
In an economic context that is more critical than ever, these offers represent a breath of budgetary oxygen for French clubs capable of training and then exhibiting. Angers SCO understood this well by launching the SCO2030 project, establishing training as a pillar of the club’s sporting and economic future.
The situation is similar for players, contract offers made by these financial powers are often very difficult to ignore, as these five departures demonstrate. An inflationary center forward market, foreign clubs ready to invest aggressively to secure the future and a critical economic context for French football, all variables which put young center forwards trained in France at the forefront of the transfer market.
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– UPDATE
