Samba strengthens Lens
Goalkeeper Brice Samba, who had played for three seasons at Nottingham Forest, the club with which he had just won the Premier League promotion, signed a five-year contract with RC Lens, the artesian club announced on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Congolese remains for three full seasons across the Channel. He was notably the hero of the semi-final play-off last May, stopping three shots on goal against Sheffield United.
In Lens, he will be the number 1 of a team that suffered a stroke of luck last month with the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligaments in the left knee of Venezuelan goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez.
“Compared to the possibility of playing in the Premier League and the requests he has had, following his great season, Brice made a strong choice by coming to Lens”, praised the sporting director Florent Ghisolfi in the press release announcing the arrival of the player on the official Racing website.
AC Milan formalizes the arrival of Origi
Belgian international striker Divock Origi, at the end of his contract with Liverpool, has signed up with AC Milan for four years, the Italian champion club announced on Tuesday, deprived of Zlatan Ibrahimovic until 2023.
“AC Milan is pleased to announce the signing of Divock Origi. The Belgian has signed a contract with the club until June 30, 2026 ”, indicates the formation of Serie A on its website, formalizing the arrival of the 27-year-old player.
Liverpool announced on June 9 the departure of its striker, a lucky charm in particular during the victorious campaign in the Champions League in 2019 with a memorable double in the semi-final return against FC Barcelona (4-0) and another goal capital in the final against Tottenham (2-0).
Malacia joins Manchester United
Dutch left-back Tyrell Malacia has signed a four-year contract with Manchester United from Feyenoord Rotterdam, the Red Devils announced in a statement on Tuesday.
Aged 22, the international defender (5 caps) is the first summer recruit for United and its new Dutch coach, Erik ten Hag, who arrived from Ajax Amsterdam.
“It’s an incredible feeling to join Manchester United (…) with an incredible coach leading us. I know him for playing against his teams, I know his qualities and what he demands of his players,” Malacia told the club’s website.
Mandanda very close to Rennes
OM are preparing to lose (another) legend. According to information from L’Equipe, the departure of Steve Mandanda is no longer in doubt. The OM goalkeeper (37) has agreed to join Rennes.
Still under contract until 2024, the international goalkeeper would have already said goodbye to the Marseille locker room, all that remained was to find an agreement between the two clubs.
After a season shared between bench and tenure with Pau Lopez, “Il Phenomeno” did not want to be put in an identical situation and therefore decided to leave.
Former Tottenham coach Nuno Santo signs with Al-Ittihad
Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo, former coach of Tottenham, has been appointed coach of Al-Ittihad, replacing Romanian Cosmin Contra, the Saudi club, second in the last championship, announced on Monday.
The Portuguese has already coached several top European clubs, including Valencia, Porto, as well as Premier League sides Wolverhampton (from 2017 to 2021) and Tottenham (for 4 months only).
Celik leaves Lille for AS Roma
Turkish international defender Zeki Celik, champion of France with Lille in 2021, has signed a four-year contract with AS Roma, the Italian club announced on Tuesday.
After four seasons at LOSC, the 25-year-old right-back signed up with Roma “until June 30, 2026”, said the club trained by José Mourinho, winner of the Europa League Conference at the end of May.
According to the Italian press, the amount of the transfer would amount to seven million euros, while 15% of the capital gain linked to a possible future transfer would go to Lille.
Moroccan Laaziri commits to four years at OL
Young Moroccan left-back Achraf Laaziri has signed a four-year contract with Olympique Lyonnais, the French club announced on Tuesday.
The player born in 2003, international in the Moroccan U20 team, was recruited from Fath Union Sport (FUS) in Rabat, with which OL signed a partnership agreement in 2019.
“This cooperation with one of Morocco’s historic clubs has now resulted in the first recruitment of a young Moroccan player”, welcomes the Lyon club.
Laaziri had been on trial for three weeks in March with the OL reserve. He signed up until June 30, 2026.