L’Équipe report that Chelsea and Rennes will end up agreeing to a deal of around €25m for the transfer of Senegalese goalkeeper Édouard Mendy after a protracted period of negotiations.

Yesterday, the 28-year-old said goodbye to his teammates, having been authorised by the Brittany side on Thursday to finalise contract negotiations with Chelsea, with whom he has a 5-year agreement with that is waiting and ready to be signed.

Negotiations were long and often tense between the two clubs. Rennes had a big English club that wanted a player who had two very strong Ligue 1 seasons under his belt, a very complete game and great mental strength. Mendy had become a central figure in the SRFC dressing room who they did not want to lose.

Mendy wanted the move from the first moment it became possible, it was simply too good an opportunity, he felt, to pass up on or even hesitate over – it has been his clear and obvious desire to move that convinced Chelsea to remain in talks, even when Rennes were seeking to be excessively creative in structuring a deal. Attempts included the insertion of Olivier Giroud and the loan of Fikayo Tomori plus cash in the agreement. In the end, it appears that the deal will be concluded for a figure of between €25m and €28m including bonuses. L’Équipe estimate that it will be around €25m.

Sources tell Get French Football News that Rennes have not entirely given up on doing a loan for Tomori, but if it happens, it will be part of a separate deal and negotiation.

This fee will be a record for a Ligue 1 goalkeeper, eclipsing the amount paid by Chelsea for Petr Cech in 2004 (€13m) and by Monaco for Benjamin Lecomte in 2019 (€13m).

SRFC paid just €5m for the player last summer, with Reims set to receive 15% of the sale price to Chelsea thanks to a sell-on percentage fee clause.

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L’Équipe report that in a bid to kickstart their so far dismal campaign, Ligue 1 side Angers are making an ambitious play to sign Moroccan international winger Sofiane Boufal from Southampton.

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The 27-year-old first made a name for himself with Le SCO between 2013 and 2015 and they want him to return to bring his creativity – talks are occurring with his entourage about making an emotional return a reality.

The ex-Lille man is asking for some time to think about it, and at the moment, there is nothing more concrete. Boufal does want to remain in one of Europe’s top 5 leagues, and as a result has rejected all Chinese and Middle Eastern offers. Olympiakos have also positioned themselves for him, but talks are not at a significant stage yet.

In Spain, where Boufal spent 2018/19 on loan at Celta Vigo, the player has admirers, with Real Betis interested. Southampton want to sell, and would accept a price of around €5m, possibly even less.

RMC Sport report that PSG have approached Chelsea over a loan with option to buy deal for 27-year-old German international central defender Antonio Rüdiger.

Chelsea are currently refusing as they would prefer an outright sale – talks are expected to continue in the coming days.

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Les Parisiens are seeking to complete a low-cost transfer window, as they still wanted to raise €60m in funds before the end of this window.

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L’Équipe report that Spartak Moscow are in active negotiations to sign 26-year-old FC Nantes central midfielder Abdoulaye Touré.

Speaking to the newspaper on Tuesday, FCN President Waldemar Kita confirmed this reporting: “Yes, it is true, there are discussions.”

Les Canaris will not stand in the way of a departure of the 26-year-old and are hoping for an offer worth more than €10m for a player that remains under contract with them until June 2022.

In January, there was vague interest from West Ham, which never became concrete and Touré is now seeking an exit during this window. Several Italian clubs have made enquiries, but no formal bids.

Touré lost the Nantes captaincy after testing positive for COVID-19 in August, which is now held by central defender Nicolas Pallois, because the player is expected to leave.

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PSG have announced the contract extension of Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka, who is now tied to the club until 2025, adding a further 4 years onto his contract with the capital club.

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The 20-year-old will spend the 2020/21 campaign on loan with Spanish 2nd division side FC Cartagena in an arrangement that does not include an option to buy.

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Ligue 1 side Lyon have finally closed a deal with Peñarol to sign 18-year-old Uruguayan winger Facundo Pellistri, who is expected to arrive in France on Thursday to complete a move, according to L’Équipe.

He is due to participate in a match against Colo-Colo tonight in the Copa Libertadores, in what will be his last game for the Uruguayan outfit.

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OL and the Montevideo-based outfit have some finally details to sort this morning, but the agreement is for €5m plus €2m in bonuses, with Peñarol keeping 40% of the player’s future sale rights.

L’Équipe report that PSG President Al Khelaifi has devised a plan to sign Houssem Aouar from Lyon, working on a deal now but for an eventual transfer in 2021.

Lyon President Aulas was questioned about the future of Houssem Aouar on Wednesday during the unveiling press conference of Lucas Paqueta: “Things haven’t enormously advanced. We know that three major clubs are interested in Houssem. Two in the short term. One in the medium term.”

The first two are Arsenal and, to a lesser degree, Juventus. The Italians are appearing more and more to be some sort of a smokescreen. The London club, under the influence of manager Mikel Arteta, loves Aouar. The Gunners made their opening offer at the beginning of August, with a verbal bid of €30m + Mattéo Guendouzi in exchange. Lyon rejected it, asking for €60m for the 22-year-old instead.

Nearly 2 months later, Arsenal’s current offer is still not quite €40m (€38m, to be exact per reporting elsewhere), which will not convince the Lyon board. Whilst OL have lowered their demands for August, as reported by RMC, they now want €50m, and there is about a €12m difference that Arsenal must make up if they want to complete a deal.

Juventus can’t invest sum, even though their board is very close to Lyon’s. It is in this context that in recent days another possibility has emerged, PSG, the third club that Aulas was talking about.

Les Parisiens are very attracted by the French international’s profile, with PSG President Al Khelaifi very keen on doing a deal. He secretly met with Aouar’s entourage at the beginning of the year. In recent days, feeling like a deal could get away from him, Nasser made new contact. First calling Lyon President Aulas on Monday via telephone, and then exchanging words with him during the Ligue 1 clubs meeting in Paris on Tuesday.

NAK is driving the possible deal, not Sporting Director Leonardo. But the Brazilian has been instructed in recent hours by the Qatari to make contact with the player’s entourage.

This approach seems more opportunistic than necessary for PSG, who are not actively looking for a creative midfielder during this window and who cannot currently afford to reach the €50m asking price, let alone offer half of that amount as they seek to stick to FFP regulations.

PSG have lost more than €100m during the pandemic and want to sell to raise around €60m this window, something that they have come nowhere near achieving. But it is also maybe the moment to act, as Aouar is on the market, despite the fact that the offers on the table are not satisfying Lyon.

This is what Aulas has been meaning re: “medium term” interest. PSG are looking at making a deal now for next summer that guarantees a certain price paid, which OL could take comfort in knowing that that money would be coming in before their accounts are due at the end of June 2021.

Another possibility exists à la Kylian Mbappé – a loan with obligation to buy, but this is less likely, owing to the economic difficulties currently facing PSG, as this formula would require them to pay a hefty loan fee upfront.

Aouar is more of a mind to discover a foreign league this summer. Arsenal seem to still lead the race, but in this complicated saga, have to move more quickly than ever with a serious bid.

Aulas has fixed the absolute latest deadline of Saturday morning for all sales to be sorted.

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Ouest-France announce that Rennes have completed an agreement with Anderlecht for 18-year-old Belgian attacker Jérémy Doku after more talks last night and this morning.

The Anderlecht president arrived in France yesterday for finalisation negotiations and wasted no time in agreeing a deal.

The deal is done for €26m + bonuses, and also includes a sell-on percentage fee clause – 5-year contract for Doku.

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Speaking to reporters during a press conference on Thursday, French youth international attacking midfielder Jeff Reine Adélaïde confirmed that Ligue 1 side OGC Nice, who he joined on Monday on loan with an option to buy from Lyon, tried to sign him last summer too.

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“They are a club that has been following me for a number of years. Since I was at Arsenal, and last year again but their offers came a little bit late because I made the decision to join Lyon. I think that today is the good moment. The fact that the board have come several times show that they really wanted me. Nice is a very ambitious club that want to be competitive on all fronts.”

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When assessing the current top scorers table in the early stages of the Ligue 1 season, one name that stands out is Ignatius Ganago, the 21-year-old forward for RC Lens. Signed from OGC Nice for a fee of €6m in the summer, Ganago has performed impressively so far, scoring four goals in his first six games for the club. Despite the small sample size, there is evidence that the goalscoring form could continue.

After a season at Nice played predominantly on the wings, Ganago has immediately established himself as one of the forwards in the 3-4-1-2 formation utilised by Lens this season. Despite only playing a total of 309 minutes in his 1stsix games for the club, Ganago is joint-top scorer along with Gaël Kakuta. However, it is important to note that all four Kakuta’s goals this season have come from the penalty spot, with Ganago winning two of these penalties.

Ganago has already improved upon his highest goalscoring tally for a Ligue 1 season. Last season at Nice he featured in 26 league games, starting in 12, and only managed a return of three goals and one assist. The majority of these games, however, were spent on the wings whereas only 274 of his 1231 league minutes involved him playing as a central striker. The shot map below from last season displays a variety of low xG shots, with nearly 50% of them coming from outside of the box. It also shows that his three league goals came from three of his highest xG shots in central areas which demonstrates that Ganago is a capable finisher when in the right positions.

This season however, Ganago’s new role in a front two has enabled him to maximise his finishing ability, scoring four goals from 13 shots. The shot map below for the current season displays clearly the difference in his position this season, with 92% of Ganago’s shots being taken inside the box and mostly from central positions. The underlying numbers provide more evidence that the quality of his shots have improved. Last season, Ganago achieved an xG of 2.9 from a total of 17 shots whereas he has already generated 3.8 xG from his 13 shots this season. This is a difference of 0.12 xG per shot which is a significant increase and can be owed in part to his change in position.

Both Ganago and RC Lens manager Franck Haise have also commented on his improved goalscoring return since his move to the club. Speaking to The Ligue 1 Show, Ganago said: “For me, it changes everything! I’m back in my preferred position. I’m delighted, I’m enjoying myself and I’ll continue enjoying myself, I hope I can score lots of goals this season!” His manager added: “He’s here on the back of a few season at Nice where he was playing out of position, or at least not the one we are playing him in. I think he’s happier as a central striker.”

When comparing against the other top scorers in the league this season, Ganago’s numbers look even more impressive. The chart below displays Number of Shots vs Non-Penalty xG per Shot for players with at least 4 goals in Ligue 1 this season. Of the 13 players in this list, the young Lens forward is top for npxG/Sh with a value of 0.29 from 13 shots. It’s worth noting that since his sample size is smaller than most players, with the second lowest number of shots in the list, this high xG value could be considered unsustainable and it is possible that it will decrease eventually once the sample size increases. Currently, Ganago is taking better quality shots on average than the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Karl Toko Ekambi, but it must be noted that these established forwards have taken almost twice as many shots.

Ganago’s low number of shots compared to the other players in the list can be attributed mostly to his lower number of minutes. The Lens striker was injured 15 minutes into a game at home to Saint-Etienne after receiving a bad tackle from centre back Timothée Kolodziejczak. Ganago won his side a penalty from the foul but was unable to continue and hasn’t played since due to a sprained ankle. He is expected to return to the side after the current international break and will be hoping to pick up where he left off.

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Noticeable improvements in some other key metrics also deserve a mention, but should be taken with a pinch of salt, as Ganago has currently played just under a quarter of the minutes that he managed with Nice last season. Touches in Box per 90 is up from 3.34 last season to 8.26 in 20/21, a value that is in the 95th percentile of Top-5 League forwards. An increase in this value is expected due to his shift to a more central position, but a value of 8.26 puts him in the same bracket as other top strikers such as Erling Braut Haaland and Robert Lewandowski at this early stage. Ganago also finds himself in the 97th percentile for Successful Dribbles per 90 with a value of 4.13, an increase from 1.67 last season. This is one of the highest values for a central forward in the Top-5 Leagues and when considering strikers with at least three 90s played, only Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi are above him in the list.

Overall, despite his relatively low number of minutes, Ignatius Ganago has had a great start to the season and is thriving in his new central role at Lens. It is difficult to judge whether he can keep this form up after a return from injury but the underlying numbers suggest that his current goalscoring return is more than just a fluke and Lens fans will be expecting more of the same after the international break.

E.B.