By Adam Shergold
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Spot the difference.
Against the backdrop of extravagant yachts moored on a shimmering Mediterranean recognisable from so many classic films, an expensive footballer in a designer suit grins broadly and holds up a shirt with a number nine on it.
Seven days on, one thousand kilometres north, against a more modest backdrop but one covered in club branding, an expensive footballer in a designer suit grins broadly and holds up a shirt with a number nine on it.
Radamel Falcao and Edinson Cavani. The latest weapons in French football?s arms race between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.
Arms race: Monaco spent ?53m on Radamel Falcao this summer (above), so megabucks rivals PSG splashed ?55m on Edinson Cavani (right) as both try to dominate French football
If it was bad enough for everyone else when ravenous Lyon locked out the championship for seven years during the noughties, then the prospect of two clubs block-booking France?s two automatic Champions League places for the foreseeable future is even worse.
As Russia?s Dmitry Rybolovlev and Qatar?s Nasser Al-Khelaifi enter a tit-for-tat battle to conquer Europe, the rest of French football are left fighting for scraps.
They?ve entered a game of one-upmanship involving sums others cannot comprehend, let along match - Monaco splashed ?53m on Falcao, so PSG spent ?55m on Cavani.
Money no object: Monaco are bankrolled by Russia Dmitry Rybolovlev (above), while PSG benefit from the millions of Qatari Nasser Al-Khelaifi (below)
Recently promoted from Ligue 2, Monaco cannot yet offer Champions League football, but they can offer players the chance to live in a tax haven and keep all their earnings.
The latter has always been a major gripe with other teams in the league. Monaco pay less corporation tax because of the principality?s exempt status and only French players at the club have to make a contribution to the Treasury coffers in Paris.
?I understand my move here may have come as something of a surprise,? said Colombian Falcao with a perfect poker face upon arrival. But the best strikers in the world simply don?t join a side just promoted from a second division without money talking.
While PSG, the champions, have made Cavani their marquee signing of the summer, adding him to an already stellar squad, Monaco have been playing catch-up by spending ?39.6m on Falcao?s compatriot James Rodriguez and ?22m on his Porto teammate Joao Moutinho.
New recruits: Monaco have also signed the Colombian winger James Rodriguez (left) and Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho for a combined ?62m this summer
The new rivals will undoubtedly turn next season?s French championship into a two-horse race, but beyond that, their spiralling expenditure could shift Europe?s power balance to France for the first time.
England and Spain have had their periods of Champions League dominance, something that last season shifted to Germany. Now France could have their turn - at least before the full impact of Financial Fair Play hits.
And even then, there is still talk that UEFA, not entirely sure how their grand scheme to create a level playing field will be rolled out, may look the other way for a few years yet.
Star attraction: Zlatan Ibrahimovic will head up a fearsome strike force at PSG next season
In fact, Monaco?s greatest threat comes domestically, with the French league voting unanimously to drag the club in line with the country?s fiscal and taxation rules by next year.
Accusing the authorities of ?holding a gun to their head? and well aware that it may significantly reduce the club?s appeal to big names, Monaco have even threatened to break away and apply to join Serie A. The Italian border is, after all, just along the coast.
The French Football Federation have already started to mediate, all too aware that the loss of Monaco would essentially mean their top division is a PSG procession. They need to find a compromise that welcomes Rybolovlev?s wealth but ensures everyone pays a fair share. Not easy.
So, with the twin threats of UEFA and the FFF bearing down, time is of the essence for Monaco, whose best Champions League performance was runners-up to Jose Mourinho?s Porto in 2004.
High expectations: Claudio Ranieri (left) at Monaco and Laurent Blanc at PSG know they need to deliver silverware this season following such massive investment in their squads
POSSIBLE MONACO LINE-UP
Daniel Subasic; Andreas Wolf, Ricardo Carvalho, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Eric Abidal; James Rodriguez, Jeremy Toulalan, Joao Moutinho; Ibrahima Toure, Radamel Falcao, Valere Germain?
Claudio Ranieri knows Monaco must reach the Champions League this season, preferably by winning the league, otherwise the big name appeal will be gone as quickly as it arrived.
To do this, Porto have been the raided club. Moutinho, fancied by a number of Premier League clubs, will occupy the central midfield station, seeking to pick out Falcao ahead of him and the familiar form of Rodriguez either on the left or right. He may be accompanied in the middle by Jeremy Toulalan, signed on the cheap from Malaga.
The veteran former Barcelona player Eric Abidal will be at left-back and Ricardo Carvalho, gleaned on a free from Real Madrid, occupies a centre half berth.
New faces: Eric Abidal (left) and Jeremy Toulalan have also joined Monaco this summer
POSSIBLE PSG LINE-UP
Salvatore Sirigu; Gregory van der Wiel/Christophe Jallet, Alex/Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Lucas Digne; Thiago Motta, Marco Verratti, Javier Pastore; Ezequiel Lavezzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani
Overall, it looks like a side that will sustain a challenge for the French title, with Falcao pushing for a 30-goal haul.
While more arrivals to the principality can?t be ruled out, PSG, their middle eastern money pump having been in place for longer, look like an irresistible force both at home and abroad.
The forward line is fearsome. It?s the aforementioned 75 per cent tax rates that mean Zlatan Ibrahimovic? is paid a whopping ?47.5m a year, but few would argue he isn?t worth the money.
The Swede?s tally of 35 goals in 46 matches powered PSG to title success last season and this time he will be paired with Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi in a three-pronged attack like the Devil?s pitchfolk.
Quality: Ezequiel Lavezzi completes PSG's frightening forward line
Laurent Blanc?s midfield options include Thaigo Motta, Jeremy Menez, Marco Verratti, Javier Pastore and Lucas Moura which is far and away the best in France and up there with Bayern?s in the whole of Europe.
And the club have this week added Roma's teenage centre-half Marquinhos for around ?30m.
When Cavani introduced himself, he spoke about the PSG ?project? and it?s certainly true that Al-Khelaifi seems more willing to throw millions around than Rybolovlev. More big names could arrive before the Champions League returns in September.
Teenage kicks: PSG have also signed Roma centre-back Marquinhos for around ?30m
And with this come heightened expectations - the Champions League final is Lisbon next May has become an essential requirement for PSG, not a distant pipe dream.
Monaco and PSG are arming themselves for a French Revolution and Europe should beware.
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