MHSC Transfer Market: Tamari and Chotard courted, a Swiss midfielder targeted… there is movement in the air at Montpellier

Les contours de l’effectif du MHSC ne sont pas encore définitifs. MAXPPP/Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART/Arne Dedert/GIACOMO ITALIANO

Whether in terms of arrivals or departures, changes cannot be ruled out within the MHSC squad, which hosts Strasbourg on the first day of Ligue 1, this Sunday (5 p.m.) at the La Mosson stadium.

Twelve days in apnea. Twelve days separate Montpellier, and the other clubs affected by the drop in TV rights, from the end of a transfer window with rare suspense. “Every year, it's the same thing”, minimizes the coach Michel Der Zakarian, who gets annoyed, expects anything and will adapt to anything.

“This is the first time I've started the season without a new recruit. That's how it is. We do with what we have, with the resources we have. We'll see the squad on September 1st,”, he warns before hosting Strasbourg at La Mosson. MHSC is experiencing a transfer window that is as strange as it is unprecedented. Last year, for example, his recruits, Tamari, Omeragic, Dizdarevic and even Adams, were present at the season opener against Le Havre.

As is often the case with the considerate president Laurent Nicollin. Only Kelvin Yeboah, a striker on loan from Genoa, had signed at the last minute. For the time being, Montpellier has not transferred any players, with the exception of midfielders Léo Leroy and Sacha Delaye, nor recruited anyone.

Poker menteur

“We are closed on nothing, nor anyone”, assures Laurent Nicollin, forced to sell to balance the accounts and perhaps recruit one or two players. The rumors saturate the hot air of this end of summer. They concern most of the starters: Omeragic, Sagnan, Lecomte… The latter, who returned to Hérault during the winter of 2023, is not considering leaving for Strasbourg. In search of a goalkeeper, the Alsatian club has sounded out Lyonnais Lopes, Lorientais Mvogo.

Read also: Andy Delort back at MHSC ? “He would have found a solution to get out of Qatar”, explains Nicollin, who is still temporizing

The young midfielder Khalil Fayad, courted on both sides of the Rhine and “young talent”, does not want to leave Montpellier. Not this season, at least.

In this game of liar's poker, Montpellier anticipates any departure. And scrutinizes the Swiss market a little more, where a defensive midfielder has slipped under its nose. Another, Edimilson Fernandes, who plays for Mainz (Germany), is a possible recourse. For the moment, Tamari and Chotard, courted, are there. For farewells without knowing it?