From the brink of bankruptcy to highest profit
The club was then almost in a bankruptcy situation," Olivier Letang - President of Lille explained about the bleak prospect when the new owner group Merlyn Partners bought the club in December 2020. However, in a fateful irony, they were leading Ligue 1 and then won the championship, for the 4th time in history.
This mismatch is simply a typical example of a very specific industry," said Maren Schirmer, founder of Merlyn and board member at Lille.
Lille was sold to Callisto Sporting, a subsidiary of the Merlyn investment fund, after the club's main creditors, JP Morgan and Elliott Management, forced majority shareholder Gerard Lopez to sell back his shares. The biggest and most urgent problem was the debt. In addition, the board previously operated a strategy in which they bought relatively expensive players to compete for the championship. Also because of this, the team still had a large amount of transfer fees to pay.
One of the first actions of the new owners was to bring Letang to be president. After that, they started restructuring the debt, reducing costs and reforming the operating method. Since October 2024, Lille has no debt left. In just over 5 years, Lille was honored as the highest-earning club in Europe, according to UEFA's report in February 2026, with pre-tax profit reaching 94 million Euros in the 2024-2025 season. They made a profit for the 4th consecutive year.
Human Resource Management
Initially, Letang started cutting the scale. At that time, Lille had more than 60 professional contract players, he reduced it to about 23 or 24 players. He said that reducing the squad helps increase the level of commitment and quality of training sessions. Giving every player a potential path to the main team will boost motivation and spirit.
Letang also emphasized the importance of taking care of the player as a human being. "I can tell you the story of Lucas Chevalier," he said, "He was in the reserve team at the time of COVID-19. So I decided to let him go on loan to Valenciennes in Ligue 2. I haven't signed a goalkeeper for many years because I wanted to keep Lucas's place. If, at that time, I brought in someone experienced and quality, Lucas wouldn't have been able to play for us. It's a matter of strategy, vision, squad planning and how we organize everything. We want to create value for our assets".
At Lille, Chevalier affirmed himself as one of the best goalkeepers in Ligue 1 before being sold to PSG for a fee of about 40 million Euros under a 5-year contract in August 2025.
Or the case of Carlos Baleba when he came from Cameroon in January 2022 for 400,000 Euros. Letang said that Lille taking care of Baleba from a personal and cultural perspective is essential. "Can you imagine, as a boy, just turned 18 years old, from Cameroon, now in northern France, in January? I did not allow the coaching staff to let him train with the first team for the first 6 months because I wanted him to feel culturally comfortable. That is key.
Baleba was then included in Lille's squad for the start of the 2022-2023 season. He was then recruited by Brighton & Hove Albion in the following summer for a fee of £26 million, with additional terms.
Academy reform
The new owners of Lille are also embarking on reforming the academy, which once produced Eden Hazard, Benjamin Pavard and Yohan Cabaye. In the years before they took over, very few players were promoted from the academy to the first team. Schirmer said that this is a key factor in their vision because it helps form a strong identity, develop players who are attached to the club and the city, and create a talent production chain.
The academy at the Domaine de Luchin training center is home to players from 15 years old. Lille has about 70 young players here, with 35 people living as boarding students and studying at a private school. In smaller age groups, there are about 50 children - from U8 to U11 - training at partner clubs. For the up to U15 age group, also about 50 children, Lille cooperates with a public school with a sports orientation. The children go to school there while training with the club. They have the same model for women's teams.
Besides Chevalier, in July 2024, Lille sold talent Leny Yoro, who grew up from the academy, to Man United for a fee of 62 million Euros, plus 8 million Euros in extra fees. Player buying and selling is a key factor in their model.
Recruitment, transfer and combination
Recruitment in a crowded market is also an essential factor for Lille. Letang explained that the increase in multi-club ownership models and the story of television rights in France make them think outside the box. Schirmer estimates that Lille will only receive about 20 million Euros this year from domestic television rights.
I don't want to complain," Letang said, "Our job is to find solutions. We are smaller, we have less money, so we need to be faster, more flexible and ready to act.
Another recent example is French center-back Bafode Diakite, whom Lille signed from Toulouse for only 3 million Euros in August 2022. They sold him to Bournemouth 3 years later, for a fee of 35 million Euros plus 5 million Euros in surcharge. "Our core area is to find rough diamonds and then develop them," Schirmer added.
In recent years, Lille has sold Amadou Onana to Everton for 37 million Euros, Sven Botman to Newcastle United for 37 million Euros, Edon Zhegrova and Timothy Weah to Juventus for 14.3 and 12 million Euros respectively.
To help integrate their talents, Lille has made efforts to combine young players with some experienced players, including Olivier Giroud, 39 years old. He said that the professionalism shown by players like Giroud and captain Benjamin Andre shows young players the level of dedication needed to reach the top.
Lille Club has its own ambitions, however, perhaps most importantly is the owner's belief that they have created a clear culture.
