“From Catalan “blood and gold” to Blood and Gold! With his extensive high-level experience (360 matches including 48 in European competitions), Spanish international (2 caps) Pau Lopez joins Artois. Endowed with excellent reflexes and a good kicking game, the 29-year-old goalkeeper is on loan from Olympique de Marseille, until June 2025, with an option to buy. Through this press release, RC Lens formalized the arrival on loan of Pau Lopez who, let us remember, absolutely wanted to join the Northern club and thus relaunch after an almost blank first part of the season with Girone. Pau Lopez even agreed to give up half of his salary during half of the loan to sign for Lens.
But while the current 8th in Liga had initially given his agreement, even giving his agreement to the player to undergo the medical examination which he also passed successfully, the Spanish club suddenly made an about-face, causing the ire and the incomprehension of RC Lens which ended up publishing a scathing press release at the start of the evening announcing the outright cancellation of the arrival of Pau Lopez. “While a total agreement had been found between the Racing Club de Lens, Olympique de Marseille and Pau Lopez, the arrival of the Spanish international is canceled. Girona FC informed Olympique de Marseille today of its firm desire to keep the player until January 29, an unacceptable condition for Racing which thus renounces this signing.we could read on the northern club’s website.
Girona blocks Pau Lopez…because of the Champions League
Qualified in the Champions League, Girone noted on Tuesday evening that they were not very serious when it came to addressing UEFA rules regarding qualified players on UEFA lists. With two matches to play against AC Milan and Arsenal, the Spanish club, which is only 30th out of 36 in the Champions League standings, realized that with the departure of Pau Lopez, it he only had Gazzaniga left as a registered goalkeeper, Juan Carlos or Vladyslav Krapyvtsov not being qualified. Therefore, an injury to the 33-year-old Argentinian starting goalkeeper would have been catastrophic for the team coached by Michel.
Having realized the problem and their inability to remedy it, they refused to release the former OM goalkeeper before the end of the group stage of the Champions League, on January 29. An inconceivable situation for the Sang et Or who refused to accept the arrangement proposed by Girone. RC Lens therefore finds itself back at square one with Hervé Koffi as number one goalkeeper and with the obligation to find a competitor to the Burkinabe international goalkeeper by February 3. As for Girone, his mistake will cost him dearly, not only will he deprive himself of the possibility of saving the player’s €300,000 salary, but in addition, he will recover a player at the bottom of the hole who clearly does not have want to return to a club with which he has almost no chance of evolving. A very sad story where in the end everyone loses…
