2023-06-28 16:26:00
But where is RC Lens going? After brilliantly securing a second place in the league and its ticket to the next Champions League campaign, the club faces a new challenge. That of designing a team while trying to limit the brain drain. Or rather by trying to make the project even more attractive for players who have shone during the season and who are seeing new doors open.
The transfer market promises to be even more formidable for RC Lens with the rise of a new and fearless player: Saudi Arabia. With Cristiano Ronaldo last winter and now Karim Benzema or N’Golo Kanté, the championship of the Arabian Peninsula sends a strong signal by recruiting stars. With Ruben Neves and therefore possibly Seko Fofana, the country shows a new ambition, that of setting up a competitive championship.
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Seeing his captain and his best midfielder of the season leave would obviously be a blow for the Pas-de-Calais club. Hard and even frustrating, if he decides to leave for Saudi Arabia, a championship whose level is still hard to appreciate, while his career is in full swing. And that we had rather imagined the Ivorian joining a big European club, with whom he might have had ambitions in the Champions League.
“We are aware of our size”
Seko Fofana is not the only Lensois executive and maker of second place to be close to a departure from the north of France. At the start of this summer transfer window, it was Lois Openda who was the first to be announced towards the exit. The team informed us at the beginning of June that RC Lens had rejected an offer of 30 million from RB Leipzig for the Belgian striker. But the 23-year-old striker, who scored 21 goals in Ligue 1 over the season, might well finally leave for Germany. “I think Leipzig can be a great club that will help me take a step forward in my career in terms of ambition. (…) It’s a team that can take me to the highest level”, he launched on Belgian radio two weeks ago.
But Lens, which is far from being a European cador, has no illusions. The club knows that it is a crossing point and a possible launching pad where you don’t necessarily come to stay. The situation was expected from the management side. “We don’t always have our hands on these things. We are aware of our size, and if the big guys come for players or staff members, there is not much we can do. We are preparing for these eventualities”, launched the president of the club Joseph Oughourlian, in the mixed zone at the end of May.
In addition to Seko Fofana and Lois Openda, Kevin Danso might also leave the Sang et Or. The solid Austrian defender, another strong man of the season is being tracked by Napoli. The new French international goalkeeper, Brice Samba is already courted on the other side of the Channel, according to our colleagues from The team. The Lensois cadors might therefore be victims of their success and it is the club that would suffer.
Then carve out a workforce for Europe
If the starting movements are getting closer in the Lensois ranks, nothing is done yet. And yet, the club has also launched tracks of arrivals. Stijn Spierings officially signed up with the Sang et Or on Friday. The 27-year-old Dutchman arrived free from Toulouse to strengthen the midfield. “Stijn reinforces our midfield and brings, through his profile, additional characteristics to Franck Haise’s group”, confirmed the General Manager of the club.
It’s not usual and they probably don’t have the opportunity. Even to play C1, RC Lens should not bet on high-priced stars. But like a winter transfer window far from glitter but effective in the results, it is this strategy which seems to be chosen once more, as shown by the signing of Spierings. Promising young players like the Colombian Oscar Cortes (19) might provide one of the answers in the event of significant departures. So that qualification for the Champions League is not an end in itself.
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