Cash in or keep going – what next for Monaco as they beat the mighty Paris Saint-Germain to seal first Ligue 1 title since 2000?
The team has been transformed several times in recent years, but are they poised to start the recycling again this summer?
For Monaco, after the euphoria of a league title won in brilliant style will come the realisation that this could be the start of a glorious era.
A thrilling young team coached by Leonardo Jardim clinched the Ligue 1 title on Wednesday, ending Paris Saint-Germain’s recent domination of the French game.
Having made the capital its home for four seasons, the trophy goes to the Mediterranean principality for the eighth time, the first since 2000 and the days of David Trezeguet.
Teen sensation Kylian Mbappe has taken France and Europe by storm, while Radamel Falcao has gone from busted flush to a 30-goal striker once again.
Bernardo Silva was nominated for France’s player of the year prize and the likes of Thomas Lemar, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Benjamin Mendy have been transformed from exciting youngsters into some of the most coveted performers on the continent.
On the face of it, Monaco’s championship triumph looks to be the culmination of the project started when Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev bought a controlling stake in December 2011.
At the time the club were languishing at the bottom of the second division.
It has been an upward curve since, the renaissance stunning, but this triumph seemed unlikely when their project changed dramatically just after Jardim’s arrival in 2014.
James Rodriguez was sold to Real Madrid, Falcao loaned out, and Monaco went down the road of signing talented young players who could be sold on for huge profit.
After their run to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2015, Monaco sold Layvin Kurzawa, Aymen Abdennour, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Anthony Martial.
Close links to Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes have helped, but a lot of homework has been done behind the scenes to put together a side that has wrestled the title from PSG with a comparative fraction of the budget.
“Hard work pays off. We are seeing the success of everything that has been put in place,” said Vasilyev recently.
“Some experts doubted the Monaco project, but it is a source of great pride to see what Monaco have become today.”
For a club from a glitzy millionaire’s playground this is no fairytale. Monaco are no minnows, but in a modern game brutally dominated by an elite few, there is a risk that a great side will be quickly torn apart.
Eighteen-year-old Mbappe, dubbed the new Thierry Henry, has been linked to Madrid and Manchester United. It will be difficult for Monaco to resist an eye-watering offer.
There will be comings and goings, but how many changes are made is the key.
Monaco face a dilemma between cashing in and risking looking back at this season as a glorious one-off, or keeping a team together and making this title the first of many.