Could this be French club football's breakout season?
All of PSG, AS Monaco and Lyon have had their moments in the sun in the past, with the first two enjoying relative success in Europe's lesser tournaments in the mid-90s to mid-2000s. Lyon meanwhile, were in the latter stages of the Uefa Champions League throughout the 2000s until 2010.
But even though some of the best players in history- think Platini, Ronaldinho, Henry and Zidane- have passed through Ligue 1, and the French national team was almost unbeatable as world and European champions at the turn of the century, the French top-flight has never truly been considered one of football's ultimate domestic proving grounds.
Debates rage as to which is football's best European league, but generally speaking we all agree that the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and Spanish La Liga are the primary leagues, while Ligue 1 is in a less glittering second tier alongside the top-flights of Portugal, Holland, Greece, Turkey and a host of upcoming Eastern European leagues.
Things are changing however, after PSG and Monaco where bought by cash-flush and ambitious billionaire owners, meaning European football has two more nouveau rich pretenders.
PSG, essentially funded by the oil revenue of the Qatari government, announced themselves last season. They won the French league title for the first time in nearly 20 years, and pushed Spanish champions Barcelona all the way over two dramatic legs in the Champions League quarterfinals.
They may have lost their manager Carlo Ancelotti to Real Madrid, arguably the most regal club in all football, and one of the teams they hope to usurp in time. But they still have a squad of well-paid superstars, with a first-team that could probably challenge for honours in every top league on the planet.
Earlier this week, PSG broke the French transfer record to sign in-demand Uruguay star Edinson Cavani, and now their team is even stronger than last season, with yet another assault on the established order of European club football afoot.
Meanwhile, funded by a Russian billionaire, promoted Monaco are on a fast-track towards regaining the status they lost when relegated to Ligue 2 as punishment for financial irregularities.
By flashing their copious amounts of cash, they were able to land Colombia star Radamel Falcao, who could have taken his pick of any top club in football. That means Ligue 1 now has three of the world's top strikers plying their trade there in Cavani, Falcao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to go with a growing cast-list of impressive players from around the globe.
Essentially, Monaco are where PSG were two seasons ago: a grand old club with new money, ready to reassert itself in the local league before waging a well-funded war on the continent. That could mean the Ligue 1 campaign is set to be an intriguing two-horse race between two of Europe's richest teams, while also-rans like Marseille, Lyon and Lille fight to pick up the scraps.
If both new French financial juggernauts click however, the European club football landscape could soon have a far more Gallic feel to it. After all, for the past few seasons football in Europe seemed a quintessentially Spanish affair, with Barcelona and Real Madrid ascendant.
Last season Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund barged the Spaniards aside, and another era of German dominance could well be beginning.
But something is stirring in France for sure, and it will be interesting to see if PSG and Monaco can thrive on the money sloshing though their systems, to become the European club powerhouses of the future.
By Jared Chaitowitz
?Follow Jared on Twitter: @JaredSLinter
