Souleymane Camara paces Montpellier in Ligue 1 action

Souleymane Camara, a striker from Senegal, scored in the 58th minute to lead Montpellier over Nice in Ligue 1 action.

With the victory, Montpellier now sit third in the table after 20 matches.

Is Bordeaux going to repeat in France's Ligue 1? At the holiday break, it looks like a real possibility.

Lyon? No. Marseille? Bordeaux? Yes!

Bordeaux is nine points clear of second-place Lille in France's Ligue 1 table.

25-year-old Marouane Chamakh and 23-year-old Yoann Gourcuff lead les Girondins attack.

Chamakh has made over 50 appearances for his native Morocco and he was a key contributor on last year's Bordeaux club that captured the 2008-09 league title.

Yoann Gourcuff, Ligue 1's Player of the Year (2008-09), deserves your attention ... check out the YouTube video from his time with AC Milan.

2009/2010 European League Start Dates

July and August signal the start of the new seasons across many of Europe's top-flight leagues with several kicking-off before the English Premiership, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A.

Austria Bundesliga: Friday 17 July
Belgium Pro League: Friday 31 July
Bosnia-Herzegovinan Premier League: Saturday 1 August
Bulgaria A PFG: Friday 7 August
Croatia 1. HNL: Friday 24 July
Cyprus First Division: Saturday 29 August
Czech Republic Liga: Friday 24 July
Denmark Superliga: Saturday 18 July
England Premier League: Saturday 15 August
France Ligue 1: Saturday 8 August
Georgia Umaglesi Liga: Saturday 1 August
Germany Bundesliga: Friday 7 August
Greece Super League: Saturday 22 August
Hungary NB I: Friday 24 July
Italy Serie A: Sunday 23 August
Luxembourg National Division: Saturday 1 August
Macedonia First League: Saturday 1 August
Malta Premier League: Friday 21 August
Moldova National Division: Sunday 5 July
Montenegro First League: Saturday 8 August
Netherlands Eredivisie: Friday 31 July
Northern Ireland Premier League: Saturday 8 August
Poland Ekstraklasa: Friday 31 July
Portugal Liga: Sunday 16 August
Scotland Premier League: Saturday 15 August
Serbia Super Liga: Saturday 15 August
Slovakia Super Liga: Friday 10 July
Slovenia 1. SNL: Friday 17 July
Spain La Liga: Sunday 30 August
Switzerland Super League: Saturday 11 July
Turkey Super Lig: Friday 7 August
Ukraine Premier League: Friday 17 July
Wales Premier League: Friday 14 August

Transfer Round-Up: Lucarelli Reunited With Livorno, Juventus Capture Melo, Maxwell Close To Barcelona Switch

Newly-promoted Serie A club Livorno have completed the homecoming addition of former Amaranto favourite Cristiano Lucarelli from Parma on-loan for the entire season. The 33-year-old veteran striker returns to the Tuscan vicinity where he netted an impressive 92 goals between 2003 and 2007. Read On -- Lucarelli Leaves Parma To Rejoin Liverno via Goal.com

Felipe Melo will make the transition from Florence to Turin as Juventus have confirmed the arrival of the Brazil international midfielder from Fiorentina, with Marco Marchionni moving in the opposite direction. Read On -- Juventus Confirm Melo Signing via Independent.co.uk

The champions of Europe, Barcelona, are on the brink of landing their first window signing as a fee of £4.2m has been accepted for Inter Milan's Brazilian left-back Maxwell. Read On -- Barca Agree Maxwell Deal via SkySports.com

Olympique Lyonnais should replace the void left by the departure of Qatar-bound Juninho with Lille's fellow-native Michel Bastos for €18 million. Read On -- Bastos Will Sign For Lyon via SkySports.com

Saint Etienne: Fernandes Leaves Eastlands For Southern France

Swiss holding midfielder Gelson Fernandes has left Manchester City for Saint Etienne for an undisclosed fee after slipping down the Eastlands' pecking order due to the arrivals of Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong.

With the World Cup approaching, Fernandes will have been eager to drive for a regular starting position for Switzerland by impressing at club level and the prospects of achieving this at the City of Manchester Stadium were diminishing ever since Mark Hughes replaced Sven Goran Eriksson as manager.

A statement issued on Manchester City's official website read:

Manchester City can confirm that Gelson Fernandes has joined French side St Etienne for an undisclosed fee.

The Swiss midfielder moved to City from FC Sion in July 2007, and made his debut in the Carling Cup win over Bristol City a month later.

Gelson made 59 appearances for City, scoring four times, but he was increasingly used as a substitute after Mark Hughes took over as Blues’ boss.

He now moves to the southern part of France to the side managed by former Portsmouth manager Alain Perrin. His command of several languages helped make Gelson a popular member of the squad, and he goes with the best wishes for the future of everyone connected to Manchester City.

Paris Saint Germain: Jallet Joins From FC Lorient

Paris Saint Germain have resumed their off-season recruitment by concluding the capture of Christophe Jallet, the 26 year-old defender bearing for the French capital from FC Lorient to enhance Antoine Kombouaré's defensive options ahead of the upcoming Ligue 1 season.

Since securing promotion all the way back in 2005-2006, Jallet can count himself as a one of the imperative cogs that has sustained reliability in the functioning of the Lorient mechanism, helping the Brittany-based club to three consecutive years of top-flight consolidation, clocking 98 appearances in the process.

"Signing for Paris St Germain represents a lot of things for me," he told the PSG's official website. "It's first of all an immense joy as joining one of the biggest French clubs is a huge step for me. I hope to shine in the PSG shirt and win titles with this club."

Veteran shot-stopper Gregory Coupet and Turkish forward Mevlut Erding have already arrived from Atletico Madrid and Sochaux respectively to aid in PSG's launch of an unwavering quest to close the sixteen-point disparity at the top of last season's table, vetoing any prospective assault on the championship.

Bordeaux managed to obliterate the myth that France's premium stage was subject to a one-club governance in the form of seven-time successive champions Olympique Lyonnais, so why cannot the forthcoming edition deliver a fresh challenger to the national crown?

Bordeaux: Marouane Chamakh To Stay

The 25-year-old Moroccan international announced his desire to stay at the club after helping Bordeaux to the 2008-09 Ligue 1 title.

Chamakh had been linked to several Premiership sides including Tottenham Hotspur. The forward spoke to Skysports.com.

"I will stay here next season, I want to be part of the club," Chamakh said.

"I like the team spirit here. It is true I wanted to leave and I want to realise my dream of playing in the Premier League, but I owe something back to Bordeaux."