Meet the French Club With a Hall-of-Fame-Worthy Group of New Investors

Meet the French Club With a Hall-of-Fame-Worthy Group of New Investors

Investors aren't exactly a new phenomenon in football, especially with the ever-growing financial battle that is featuring increasingly prominently in the on-pitch success of clubs across the world.

Not only do we see tycoon billionaires looking to lob as much cash at a project as possible, but there has also been an increase in sports stars, whether they be footballers or otherwise, putting their cash to work and getting stuck in to part-ownership of football clubs.

And perhaps that phenomenon has been nowhere more apparent than in France with Ligue 2 club Le Mans, who have a spectrum of investors that is growing every week and includes some of the most recognisable names in sports today.

The Investing Avengers

This week saw the latest big name take on a stake and pledge their money to the French side, with Real Madrid's towering goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois the implicated party.

🚨🇫🇷 Thibaut Courtois becomes one of the owners of Le Mans FC, investing in the French club.

The investors group already includes Novak Djokovic, Felipe Massa, Kevin Magnussen. pic.twitter.com/j1oz5rseUF

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 19, 2026

But Courtois is far from the first who has invested in Le Mans. He joins a group which consists of some of the top athletes from around the world, with F1 drivers Felipe Massa & Kevin Magnussen teaming up with tennis GOAT Novak Djokovic to make up a team that resembles the Avengers more than an investment group.

The plethora of high interest and investment has garnered Le Mans the nickname 'the French Wrexham', with the Ligue 2 club looking to inhabit a meteoric rise toward the upper echelons of French football.

Why Le Mans?

The club is most prominently backed by Outfield, which is a Brazilian investment firm that has been pivotal in the acquisition of the high-profile sporting names being brought in.

The aim is for the club's infrastructure to be modernised over the next few years, the first goal being to take the club to the promised land of Ligue 1 and open up a new world of revenue opportunities to aid growth.

Thibaut Courtois has become the THIRD Real Madrid player to buy an existing football club 🤝💰

He’s become a minority owner of Le Mans FC — who are chasing promotion to Ligue 1 this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/0BCL4X6ZW3

— LiveScore (@livescore) February 19, 2026

Le Mans have been marketing themselves to gain exactly the sort of attention they have done, with a focused effort to bring in massive names from a variety of backgrounds that will help achieve their global reach goals.

The endpoint is a franchise which provides a reference for others looking to emulate a similar rise.

Can the Investment Do the Job?

Being nicknamed the French Wrexham is nothing to be sniffed at, especially considering the meteoric rise the Welsh club has had as a result of their Hollywood investment.

With a similar sort of vibe, albeit much more sport focused, currently being deployed at Le Mans, it wouldn't be a shock to see them follow a similar path and compete with some of France's top clubs before long.

They currently sit in 5th place in Ligue 2, with 40 points from their 24 games and just a five-point gap to Troyes, who currently top the table.

Not making it into the playoffs this season would be a big disappointment and would be an unfortunate way to 'honour' the faith shown by some of the world's top stars.

Whether Le Mans will be reaching the pinnacle of their domestic divisions any time soon is yet to be seen. But if the money being thrown at the club is anything to go by, it won't be long before Le Mans announce themselves as an upcoming powerhouse.