Lens is used to it again. Having fought until late in the season for the title in Ligue 1, the RCL attracted attention. Those playful observers, but also those more interested in other formations, ready to reap the fruits of a remarkable exercise. The Sang-et-Or approach the recovery with the cash drawer well supplied, but stripped of two of the main columns of its vertebra. The revelation Loïs Openda left, barely a year after signing for the club, heading to Leipzig. Before him, Seko Fofana had seen Saudi Arabia pointing his nose and his tickets, for a transfer to Al-Nassr which drags on but leaves little doubt. It’s up to Franck Haise to re-equip his gleaming frame. In the offices of La Gaillette, we know the reality of clubs which, like Lens, seduce but cannot compete in resources or in prestige in an ever more competitive market. A major element of the first two successful seasons back in L1, Jonathan Clauss was sold to OM last summer. Promising, Cheick Doucouré and Loïc Badé reported large capital gains (respectively 22.6 and 17 million euros) after being unearthed in Bamako and free from Le Havre.
“I knew I was not going to keep my fifteen major”
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“Each year, there are executive departures, Haise did not panic at L’Equipe. We are not Manchester City, Bayern, Paris. We are very clear with the president and Arnaud Pouille (general manager ). I knew that I was not going to keep my fifteen major. There is no ambiguity on that. Afterwards, we work well on the substitutes. We also keep a lot of people.
Going from a good seventh place in 2020 and 2021 to a surprising runner-up rank, Lens saw itself in danger of seeing its desired leaders. With Openda and Fofana, more than 40% of the Lensois goals of the last financial year will fly away to other skies. It is above all the strong axis of the formation of Artois that will have to be rethought. Fofana was the builder, the one who made the Sang-et-Or block go up with his power and his ball quality at the foot. Openda was the ideal finisher, clinical but not selfish, always quick to make the right move to clear the way for his fellow Ivory Coast international. Replacing them becomes an absolute priority.
quantity and quality
Difficult to find an equivalent to the one who should team up with Cristiano Ronaldo if Al-Nassr manages to lift his temporary recruitment ban. Because Seko Fofana is a rare specimen, cut like a recovery player but with superior technical qualities for a midfielder. So the RCL chose to compensate by the number, by densifying the rotation in this sector in just a few months. Ball handlers Adrien Thomasson and Angelo Fulgini arrived last winter, with the latter seeing his permanent transfer activated this summer. More workers Andy Diouf, Stijn Spierings and Neil Aynaoui have signed up in recent weeks. Haise will be able to count on more varied profiles. And on signatures very largely compensated by the sale of Fofana, announced around 40 million euros when this new quintet cost a little more than 25.
With the desire to confirm its place among the greats of Ligue 1 while adding the Champions League to it while Racing had not played in any European Cup until then, Lens has raised the plateau level of its midfield. And he also gave himself the funds to negotiate the extensions of other major elements like Kevin Danso or Przemyslaw Frankowski.
Adrien Thomasson (RC Lens) against AS Monaco, April 22, 2023 in Ligue 1
Credit: Getty Images
Loïs Openda’s situation is quite different. His performances of choice, and the serious injury of his competitor at the forefront, the Pole Adam Buksa, had forced Franck Haise to limit his options in front of last season. These are only more reduced with the departure of the Belgian international. Bulka is now fit. Wesley Saïd and Florian Sotoca are still there, even if the latter has rather convinced on the side in recent months. Morgan Guilavogui and Oscar Cortès have arrived, but are more up-and-coming and backroom players. It still lacks that coveted, and often expensive, killer profile. The check for 50 million euros from the sale of Openda to Leipzig (including 6 bonuses) will not be too much to find him a successor. But “we are not going to reinvest 50 million” immediately tempered the artesian coach to L’Equipe.
AEK Athens player Levi Garcia is one of the avenues explored by the Sang-et-Or, according to the sports daily. Author of 18 goals in 37 matches in all competitions, the Trinidad and Tobago international (8 goals in 42 caps) has a less impressive CV than that of Openda. At 25, he has not yet really exploded, and has little experience in the European Cup: 14 games for the most part ends of the match and only one goal scored. But his reasonable value – seven million euros according to Transfermarkt – would make him a big deal if successful. After all, that too has become a good habit again at Bollaert.
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