Esteban Lepaul’s France Call-Up Lifts Value as Lamine Camara Rises €15m

Transfermarkt updated the market values of 110 Ligue 1 players on September 24, 2026, with Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara rising by €15m and Angers forward Esteban Lepaul benefiting from his first senior call-up to the France national team under new head coach Zinédine Zidane, according to Transfermarkt’s report titled “Ligue 1 market values: Camara up by €15m – Lepaul benefits from Zidane call-up.”

The valuation refresh, published Thursday by the German football data platform, covers dozens of Ligue 1 players across all 18 clubs and reflects both on-pitch form and the international recognition that can accelerate a young player’s market trajectory. The two headline movers — one an established Monaco talent already in Chelsea’s transfer plans, the other a 26-year-old late bloomer now on the senior France radar — illustrate the different paths by which Ligue 1 players build value heading into the October transfer discussions.

Direct Answer: What Changed in Today’s Update

Transfermarkt’s September 24, 2026 update raised Lamine Camara’s market value by €15m, continuing a rise that comes as Chelsea and Monaco are already reported to hold a principle agreement worth roughly €45m for the France Under-21 international. Esteban Lepaul, previously a peripheral figure outside the traditional France pathway, saw his profile boosted after being named among five uncapped players in Zidane’s first squad, announced September 18, 2026, following three goals in six Ligue 1 matches this season, including one against defending champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Lepaul’s Rise: From Third-Division Épinal to the France Squad

Esteban Lepaul’s inclusion in Zidane’s first squad is one of the more notable storylines behind Thursday’s Ligue 1 market value update. The 26-year-old forward was playing in France’s third division with Épinal as recently as 2024 before a rapid rise through the divisions brought him to Angers, a move one report says was completed for a fee of around €150,000. Last season, Lepaul finished as Ligue 1’s top scorer with 21 goals, a return that established him as one of the division’s most productive forwards heading into the current campaign.

This season, Lepaul has continued that form, scoring three goals in six Ligue 1 appearances, with one of those strikes coming against Paris Saint-Germain, the club that has dominated the division in recent years. That sustained output prompted his inclusion in Zidane’s first squad as France head coach, announced on September 18, 2026, and confirmed by multiple outlets as containing 23 players ahead of France’s upcoming Nations League fixtures.

Zidane’s inaugural squad listed five uncapped players called up for the first time: goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, defender Jérémy Jacquet, midfielders Andy Diouf and Lucas Da Cunha, and Lepaul among the forwards. Kylian Mbappé was confirmed as squad captain under the new coaching setup. According to reporting on the squad announcement, France will face Türkiye, Belgium and Italy across the late-September and early-October international window as Zidane begins shaping his own group following his appointment as national team coach.

The timing of the call-up, arriving alongside Transfermarkt’s Thursday valuation refresh, is presented by the platform as a direct driver behind Lepaul’s improved market standing. A player’s transfer value is shaped not only by club form but by the visibility and validation that come with senior international recognition, and Lepaul’s case — a third-division player two years ago now training under Zidane — is a clear illustration of how quickly that trajectory can shift once a national team coach takes notice.

Camara’s €15m Jump and the Chelsea Context

The other central figure in Thursday’s update is Lamine Camara, the Monaco midfielder whose value rose by €15m in the new Transfermarkt release. Camara’s rise does not exist in isolation from the transfer market: as previously reported, Chelsea and Monaco have reached a principle agreement worth approximately €45m for the France Under-21 international, a deal that remains unofficial and has not been confirmed by either club. Thursday’s valuation increase adds fresh context to that reported figure, with Transfermarkt’s independent assessment now placing Camara’s market worth closer to the level being discussed in the reported Chelsea negotiations.

It is important to note that Transfermarkt’s market values are independent estimates based on performance data, age, contract length and market trends, and are distinct from actual transfer fees agreed between clubs. No official confirmation of a completed Camara transfer has been made by Chelsea or Monaco, and the reported €45m figure remains, at this stage, an unconfirmed agreement in principle rather than a finalized deal.

Key Facts at a Glance

• Transfermarkt updated market values for 110 Ligue 1 players on September 24, 2026.
• Lamine Camara’s market value rose by €15m in the new update.
• Esteban Lepaul, 26, received his first senior France call-up last week under new head coach Zinédine Zidane.
• Lepaul has scored three goals in six Ligue 1 matches this season, including one against Paris Saint-Germain.
• Lepaul was Ligue 1’s top scorer last season with 21 goals.
• Zidane’s first France squad, announced September 18, 2026, included 23 players and five uncapped debutants.
• The five first-time call-ups were Guillaume Restes, Jérémy Jacquet, Andy Diouf, Lucas Da Cunha and Esteban Lepaul.
• Kylian Mbappé was confirmed as France captain under Zidane.
• France are scheduled to face Türkiye, Belgium and Italy in the upcoming Nations League window.
• Lepaul was playing in France’s third division with Épinal as recently as 2024 before joining Angers for a reported fee of around €150,000.

Ligue 1 Market Movers: September 24, 2026 Update

How we know: figures and player movements are drawn directly from Transfermarkt’s September 24, 2026 market value update and corroborated squad announcements; this table reflects only the two changes explicitly reported in that release.

Zidane’s Early Selection Philosophy

Zidane’s decision to include five uncapped players in his very first squad signals an early willingness to look beyond the established core of the France squad, a group led by Mbappé that has been largely consistent under recent coaching regimes. The elevation of Lepaul, a player who two years prior was competing in France’s third tier, stands out within that group as the most dramatic rise. Restes, Jacquet, Diouf and Da Cunha each arrive with more conventional pathways through top-flight France clubs, making Lepaul’s inclusion the squad’s clearest underdog story.

For Angers, Lepaul’s call-up carries direct value implications. A player’s transfer value typically responds to international recognition because it widens the pool of interested buyers and validates a player’s level against the highest domestic standard available to a coach assembling a senior squad. Ligue 1 clubs have increasingly used such moments — a maiden call-up, a notable scoring run — as leverage in valuing squad members ahead of the mid-season and summer transfer windows.

What Happens Next

France’s Nations League fixtures against Türkiye, Belgium and Italy in the coming weeks will offer the first opportunity to assess whether Lepaul earns minutes under Zidane, and whether his Ligue 1 form with Angers can translate to senior international appearances. Any goal involvement at that level would likely accelerate his market rise further, building on the momentum already reflected in Thursday’s Transfermarkt update.

On the Camara front, attention now turns to whether the reported €45m agreement in principle between Chelsea and Monaco progresses toward an official announcement. Until either club confirms terms, the move remains unconfirmed, and Thursday’s €15m value increase should be read as an independent market assessment rather than confirmation of a finalized fee. Ligue 1’s broader September 24 update, covering 110 players in total, will continue to inform valuation discussions across the division as clubs prepare for the next transfer window.

Limitations: This report covers only the market value changes and squad news explicitly detailed in Transfermarkt’s September 24, 2026 release and related France squad announcements. It does not include valuation changes for the remaining players among the 110 covered in the update beyond Camara and Lepaul, as those individual figures were not available in the sourced reporting.

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Sources

• A dream debut for Esteban Lepaul as Zidane feeds him … — sports.yahoo.com
• A dream debut for Esteban Lepaul as Zidane feeds him … — apnews.com
• Estéban Lepaul — Wikipédia — fr.wikipedia.org
• Zinédine Zidane ‘provisionally calls up’ Esteban Lepaul to France squad — onefootball.com
• Esteban Lepaul on a France Call-up: ‘I Hope so. One Day, … — ground.news

Photo: Loliiovcv, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons