The celebrations are already over: Le Mans is already thinking about its Ligue 1 season, here are the tracks for the squad 2026

The climb to Ligue 1 now achieved, the Le Mans club is actively preparing for its return season to the elite by focusing on its squad. RMC Sport provides you with the first thoughts of the team’s management for the comeback.

Returning to the elite for the first time in 16 years, Le Mans did not hide its pleasure. A crowd bath upon returning from Bastia, a parade on the Bugatti circuit before the French motorcycle Grand Prix, a celebration at Marie-Marvingt Stadium last Wednesday, followed by a team stay in a Parisian establishment well known to sportsmen on Thursday night before taking a flight to Marbella for the weekend, including the staff and president. Cocktails, swimming pool, beach volleyball punctuated the stay of the Sarthois which ended this Sunday, as the club members left the Spanish sun to return to France under the grey skies.

Starting on Monday, coach Patrick Videira and president Thierry Gomez will review the squad for the upcoming season by meeting individually with the players. A task that the Le Mans board will have to handle with intelligence because despite the input of the Brazilian group Outfield, the majority shareholder of the club, the budget allocated for transfers will not explode. The Le Mans coach, who encountered Ligue 2 for the first time last year, achieved the feat of a double promotion without making major changes to his group.

Rabillard heading towards an extension, Le Mans looking for good deals

Very few players from Mans FC had experience in the second division this season, and only two of them had played in Ligue 1: Lucas Buades and Antoine Rabillard. The latter, whose contract is expiring, is expected to receive an extension offer… unlike most players whose contracts expire in June 2026. For its return to the elite, Le Mans knows it will need to strengthen and will try to find free agents or loan players capable of fitting into the team’s collective logic that has been the strength of the Sarthois this season.

Highly rated by LOSC and appreciated by the dressing room and staff, central defender Isaac Cossier (19 years old, 24 matches this season) is likely to be very difficult to keep amidst interest from Lille and other Ligue 1 clubs eyeing him. A revelation in the second half of the season after arriving from the Jupiler League (Belgian First Division), Lucas Bretelle has also impressed the club, who wants to keep him, along with their regular goalkeeper Nicolas Kocik, despite interest from Spain reported by various media outlets.