French Ligue 1
LILE PUT £72m PRICE TAG ON VICTOR OSIMHEN
Nigeria’s potent hit man, Victor Osimhen is the latest commodity in the European football transfer market as Lille owner, Gerard Lopez has put a minimum £72 million price tag on him.
According to Daily Mail and quoting the club owner, it must be nothing except something in the same valuation of what Arsenal paid for Nicolas Pepe last summer to land him.
Interestingly, 2019 Africa Cup of Nations’ bronze medal winner with Super Eagles of Nigeria last summer in Egypt was the direct replacement of Pepe before he left for England.
The 21-year-old Osimhen, who is described by club staff as the ‘Rubix’s cube’ of the side because he is so difficult to figure out on the pitch, has been the best in the team this season scoring 18 goals in his debut campaign in Ligue 1 after joining from Belgian Pro League side, Sporting Charleroi.
It was gathered that teams like Tottenham and Arsenal are rivalling Liverpool just as the El Classico giants, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had indicated interest in the former Golden Eaglet star player.
Lopez said he’s been inundated with offers for his prized asset but he will not be forced to cash in on a cut-price deal amid the coronavirus crisis.
“There are multiple offers,’ he told Sportsmail. “We turned down one English and one Spanish offer this January transfer window.
“There is a wide array (this summer) and I wouldn’t want to give the names of the clubs who are bidding but what I can tell you is that there are multiple (offers). There are three championships that have clubs that have bid for him.’
It will be recalled that Osimhen joined the club for a five-year deal for a fee around £10m last summer and the club are now looking at the possibility of making a huge profit 12 months on if he does leave for England, Spain or Italy.
“I am not being a sales guy because last year people didn’t believe that we had the offers we had with (Nicolas) Pepe and it turns out we had multiple of them.
“Let me tell you with Osimhen, it is the same thing, whatever number you heard, the high number I have read is very much on the money of the offers that we have received. That’s where we are,” he pointed out.
Pepe was the major exit last summer joining Unai Emery’s Arsenal for a club-record fee— a move the Spanish boss recently revealed he was not behind – and that opened the spot for Osimhen to spearhead the attack.
His £72m sale to Arsenal was key in them raising £128m from player sales last summer. In the last three years, the club have made £219m from players, spending £149m on incomings.
Lopez revealed it is not just Osimhen that has clubs jockeying to earn his signature right now. The club’s production line, which has seen Eden Hazard, Yohan Cabaye, Franck Ribery and Divock Origi come through, is also demanding sizeable fees for players.
“If we were to activate for every single player we have received an offer for, I am going through my mind right now, we would sell nine players out of the starting XI, a further six players that are usually non-starters and a further two players from the youth team,’ Lopez, who has spent the pandemic creating PPE kit StoBox, explained.
“So, if I was to take offers from everyone else, I would be selling 17 players this summer. It would be absolutely nuts.’
After Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi signed a contract extension with French Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint-Germain, he became the World’s most-paid fullback.
The Moroccan international will earn a staggering €70 million in wages over his new five-year deal, cementing his status as football’s highest-paid defender.
He signed a contract extension with the French champions until 2029. The new deal adds three years to his previous contract, which was set to expire in 2026.
His net salary is increasing from €10 million to €14 million per season (€28 million gross).
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The 2024 Ballon d’Or nominee and Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman, is almost certain to leave the Serie A in the coming winter transfer window following interest from Premiership but the biggest interest is from Paris Saint Germaine.
The AFCON 2024 silver medal winner with Nigeria has been on the radar of the London side, West Ham United and three other sides from the league but all is more certain that the London club will find it difficult to compete for the signature of Atalanta star according to Football Insider.
Reports have suggested that the Irons are ready to swoop for the Nigeria international in the January transfer window.
However, sources say there will be “huge interest” from Europe in the 27-year-old ex-Everton star.
Paris Saint-Germain will be the frontrunner for the forward if he becomes available in the coming months.
Additionally, Lookman plays in the same area of the pitch as West Ham’s big-money summer signings Crysencio Summerville and Luis Guilherme.
The London-born has raised his stock with his displays for Atalanta since joining from RB Leipzig in 2022.
He finished 14th in the Ballon d’Or rankings this year after leading the Italian side to a Europa League title last term.
Lookman has already hit five goals and contributed five assists in 10 games across all competitions this term.
The forward, who is under contract until June 2026, hit 17 goals and notched 10 assists in 45 appearances last season.
West Ham are unlikely to have serious funds to spend in the January window after their lavish spending in the off-season.
Julen Lopetegui’s side started slowly and sat 13th in the Premier League after nine games.
Paris St Germain will take their wage dispute with Kylian Mbappe to court after the French football league’s governing body (LFP) ruled in favour of the France captain on Friday.
French media reported the 25-year-old, who has not commented on the dispute, is seeking around 55 million euros ($59.52 million) in salary and bonuses he says he is owed by the club.
The Ligue 1 champions, however, say Mbappe’s contract was “legally amended” and that he reneged on commitments when he left the club to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the close season.
PSG said last month that Mbappe had refused an offer from the LFP to mediate on the issue.
The LFP’s National Joint Appeals Commission heard the parties on Oct. 15 and announced on Friday it had ruled in favour of Mbappe.
“The club must pay him the salary he is claiming. This decision is not subject to appeal, but may be referred to the FFF (French Football Federation) Executive Committee,” the LFP told Reuters.
However, PSG said they would be “forced to bring the case before the competent courts” while still trying to find an “amicable solution” with Mbappe, who became the French club’s all-time top scorer during his seven-year stay in the capital.
“What is in debate, and will ultimately be heard before an appropriate tribunal, is that the original contract was legally amended in August 2023 relating to the 2024-25 season, and also fully recognised by the player including in January 2024 – until the player then decided to renege all his commitments upon leaving the club,” a PSG spokesperson said.
“As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that the club simply asks are honoured, with the player being afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris.
“The club hopes these basic commitments will simply be respected, knowing that the club will be forced to have the player’s bad faith judged by the competent courts if the player regrettably seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly damaging dispute, for himself and for French football, further.”
Mbappe’s representatives were not immediately available for comment.
In January, Mbappe had said he made an agreement with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi which would “protect all parties and preserve the club’s serenity for the challenges ahead”.
-Reuters
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