Recruitment under control, demotion as a precautionary measure… what does the MHSC risk before its appearance this Tuesday before the DNCG ?

Tamari (left) and Chotard: two key players that Montpellier could be forced to sell this winter to balance its finances. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

It's the moment of truth for Montpellier-Hérault, which is going before the DNCG, the financial watchdog of professional football, on Tuesday, December 10. With a huge hole in its budget, linked in particular to the collapse of TV rights, the club has never been so financially fragile. State of play.

Things are going badly and it's going on for Montpellier Hérault. While Teji Savanier and his teammates have still not managed to translate, Sunday in Lens (2-0 defeat), the best glimpse in the game, another flashing light is coming to mix its worrying light with the glow of the red lantern. That of the club's finances.

The passage of the Hérault leaders in front of the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), this Tuesday, December 10 at 4 p.m., risks adding a layer of frost to the cold snap picked up in the North. As a sign of the concern surrounding this major oral hearing before the League's financial watchdog, Laurent Nicollin has made it known that he will only speak after appearing before the authority.

At least 15 million euros to find to close the current budget

The Montpellier president had announced at the start of the season that there was a “20 million euros shortfall due to the fall in TV rights”. According to a source close to the club, the MHSC would face a “cataclysmic situation never seen before” putting its sustainability in danger. A hole in the budget for the current season estimated at at least 15 million euros, the equivalent of the sums that Louis Nicollin had covered for five years during the Ligue 2 desert crossing (2004-2009).

Read also: MHSC: “At home, there is no more money”, Montpellier president Laurent Nicollin envisages a complicated season

The Hérault managers will therefore most certainly appear before the DNCG with a letter from the Nicollin Group committing to making up any liabilities at the end of the season. Will this be enough to avoid a sanction? ? Not sure if we consider that the MHSC had already ended the two previous financial years with liabilities of more than 2 million euros.

Probable recruitment framework

For comparison, Le Havre has just been hit with a framework for its payroll and a ban on recruiting for a fee with a hole in its budget of “only” 10 million euros. Still from a source close to the MHSC, this control of recruitment seems inevitable.

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Should the Montpellier club fear the worst, namely a relegation to L2 as a precautionary measure, like OL last month ? It is not certain whether the Nicollin Group will act as guarantor. OL's situation appears much more serious with cumulative losses of 460 million euros that shareholder John Textor has undertaken to cover, in particular through an IPO of his holding company.

A budget already reduced by 17 million compared to 2023-2024

All French clubs have been hit hard by the collapse of TV rights for the period 2024-2029 with a cumulative offer from DAZN and beIN Sports reduced by 60% compared to the previous period. After deducting the League's expenses, Ligue 1 clubs share €189.7 million, compared to €495 million until last season. The last in L1 will have to settle for €5.1 million, compared to €14.3 million previously.

Read also:“Over the next three seasons, we will be very far from the amounts we had”: MHSC and Ligue 1 face TV rights problems

To cushion this shock, Montpellier has already reduced the size of its budget, from 52 to around 35 million euros for the current season, which places it 15th in L1. But the fact of not having sold any players during the summer market has put its accounts in the red. Especially since its payroll (nearly 15 million annually) has barely changed and now eats up 45% of its revenue.

“This stadium is killing us”

While it does well in terms of sponsorship and box office revenues (7.6 million), MHSC is a dwarf in terms of season tickets (1.4 million) and ticket sales (less than 2 million). Historically, the club has always stayed afloat by selling its finest family jewels, with the transfers of Wahi and Mavididi bringing in more than 30 million in 2023. “This stadium, or more precisely the fact of not having a new one, is killing us,” says a person close to the club.

The winter transfer window is therefore set to be crucial for MHSC as well as for the Nicollin Group, which is keeping it on life support. The sales of Chotard (estimated at 10 million euros), Tamari (6 to 8 million), or even Sacko (4 million) or Omeragic (6 million) could replenish the coffers… but at what price against the backdrop of a market in free fall ? Departures that will complicate the mission of staying on the field a little more, even if Jean-Louis Gasset has reportedly received assurances that the departing players will be replaced by cheaper players or loans.

Rumor of a social plan

In the meantime, the wildest rumors haunt the club's corridors, such as the pure and simple cessation of the women's section or the imminent announcement of a first round of cuts on the administrative payroll, a prelude to a possible social plan. In this context, the decision of the DNCG – probably announced on Wednesday or Thursday – risks arriving like a blizzard on the club's Christmas tree, planned for December 11.