Ligue 1

It’s been 10 years since Lille OSC captured its last Ligue 1 title, but one look at the table sees the club from northern France setting the pace ahead of last season’s Champions League semifinalist Lyon and, of course, three-time defending champion Paris Saint-Germain. 

If it’s a position that Lille didn’t anticipate being in with just 14 matches remaining, 20-year-old American forward Timothy Weah isn’t letting on to any sense of disbelief. 

After a 3-2 defeat to relegation-threatened Lorient on Jan. 31 acted as the first true bit of unpleasantness in Mauricio Pochettino’s short Paris Saint-Germain reign, the club has since rebounded nicely with back-to-back victories over Nîmes and Marseille in Le Classique. 

Key to the uptick has been the play of Kylian Mbappé, who reached and surpassed the career landmark of 150 goals with two world-class goals in those wins. 

Against Nîmes, the 22-year-old showcased the lethal finishing power of his right foot.  

Lille maintained its two-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings with a 3-0 win away to mid-table Girondins de Bordeaux thanks to second-half goals by Yusuf Yazici, Timothy Weah and Jonathan David on Wednesday. Weah, 20, and David, 21, were both born in New York City, with the former representing the USMNT and the latter representing Canada internationally.

According to Transfermarkt, 11,148 transfers were officially made between January 1 and February 1, with the transfer fees totalling a little over $600 million.

While significantly less than the 18,488 transfers worth $1.6 billion that occurred last January, it's still a lot to take in.

But we've made it easy for you.

Here's The18's five-minute guide to the most important transfers of this year's winter window:

Winter Transfers 2021

Five Most Expensive

1. Sébastien Haller (West Ham → Ajax)

Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar said he wants to remain at the Ligue 1 champions and hopes Kylian Mbappé will also pledge his future to the club.

Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona in 2017 for a world record fee of $269.26 million but Spanish media have frequently linked the 28-year-old with a switch back to the Catalan side.

Mbappé has 18 months remaining on his contract in Paris and new manager Mauricio Pochettino has played down reports the French forward could be on the move to Real Madrid.

French police in Marseille were holding 18 people in custody on Sunday after hundreds of fans stormed the training ground of soccer club Olympique de Marseille a day earlier, the local prosecutor said.

The hardcore Ultras were demonstrating against the club's leadership and a poor run of results. The supporters forced their way into the Commanderie training ground, hurling flares and firecrackers.

World soccer's governing body FIFA says players who feature in any breakaway European Super League would be banned from playing in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.

In a joint statement with European governing body UEFA and the other five continental confederations on Thursday, FIFA said they would not recognize any such breakaway.