Prospects for leading Ligue 1 title challengers

PARIS ST GERMAIN

Freed from the burden of the financial fair play and with the signing of Argentine winger Angel Di Maria imminent, PSG start as strong favourites to clinch a fourth consecutive title.

With the help of Di Maria, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose contract runs out at the end of the campaign, will be keen to reclaim the top scorer title he lost to Alexandre Lacazette of Olympique Lyonnais last season.

Otherwise PSG's backbone remains almost unchanged, although German international keeper Kevin Trapp is set to be number one ahead of Italian Salvatore Sirigu after arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Prediction: 1st

OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS

Lyon's challenge suffered a major early setback when France attacking midfielder Clement Grenier was ruled out for four months with a torn tendon in his left leg last week.

Lyon, however, can rely on the core of the team who only cracked in the final straight against PSG last season.

A young, relatively inexperienced squad in the previous term, OL have gained in maturity and they could still get solid reinforcement in Rony Lopes and Rafael from Manchester City and Manchester United respectively.

Prediction: 2nd

OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE

Having lost Andre-Pierre Gignac and Andre Ayew, Marseille, who had limited transfer funds, banked on two old timers as they recruited former France internationals, the injury-ravaged Abou Diaby from Arsenal and Lassana Diarra, who was sacked by Lokomotiv Moscow last year.

If they can play at their best, the duo will prove a formidable holding midfield for Marseille, who also lost fullback Jeremy Morel. A Champions League spot would be a fantastic result for Marcelo Bielsa's side.

Prediction: 3rd

MONACO

As Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev continues to scale back on expenses, Monaco have let go their main players as Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, Dimitar Berbatov and Geoffrey Kondogbia all left. Last season they had lost their top attacking players but under coach Leonardo Jardim managed to finish third.

This time, however, the only good news for Monaco is that they snatched Italian striker Stephan El Shaarawy on loan from AC Milan.

Prediction: 4th

Watch out for St Etienne, fifth last year, who have a very stable squad which has gained in experience.