‘I expected us to spend more’ – Rangers manager Philippe Clement reflects on his time at AS Monaco | OneFootball

Philippe Clement is back on the Côte d’Azur. The former AS Monaco manager will oversee his Rangers side taking on OGC Nice at the Allianz Riviera on Thursday, and ahead of that encounter, the Belgian recalled his time at the Principality club during an interview with L’Équipe.

Clement joined Monaco in January 2022, replacing Niko Kovac in the dugout at the Stade Louis II. After leading Les Monégasques to the UEFA Europa League in his first few months, following a strong end to his debut season, he endured a difficult second campaign.

Monaco failed to win any of their last seven games of that season, losing on six occasions. It was a run that saw the Principality club miss out on all forms of European football for the next season, and it also cost Clement his job.

Looking back at his spell at the Ligue 1 side, he laments the lack of spending. “Lots of things have changed at Monaco [since I left]. A large part of the squad has been renewed with lots of investment made in players, including some that we wanted already, like [Denis] Zakaria. For me, having an experienced midfielder was important but it wasn’t possible to recruit him at that moment. In the two windows that I was there, between the sales and the purchases, it was a positive balance of €120m,” began Clement.

He added, “I expected us to spend more on transfers. There were choices made for the financial health of the club in letting some players leave, like [Benoît] Badiashile in January, without replacing him.”  Despite that, Clement said that he has “lots of good memories” from his time at Monaco, notably evoking the steps that Aurélien Tchouaméni, Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Eliesse Ben Seghir, and Maghnes Akliouche took in their careers under his leadership.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle