Ayyoub Bouaddi (R) playing for Lille last season against Marseille's Quinten Timber. Both players moved to the Premier League in the summer transfer window, with Bouaddi joining Manchester City in one of the biggest deals Credit: Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP

Record spending by English Premier League clubs in the summer transfer window has served as a lifeline across the Channel in France, where cash-strapped teams are more reliant on selling their best players for big money than ever before.

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