“Olympique de Marseille confirms that following a total agreement between all parties, namely Girona FC, RC Lens, OM and Pau Lopez, the player was authorized to join Lens to spend his medical examination. On the afternoon of Tuesday January 7, OM sent Girona FC the draft agreement for early termination of the temporary transfer. Pau Lopez successfully completed his medical examination and signed his employment contract with RC Lens as well as the new loan agreement between RC Lens and OM. OM, very attached to respecting contractual commitments and sporting regulations, never countersigned the loan agreement with RC Lens, pending the signed return of Girona FC. Despite the absence of definitive commitment from all parties, the communication services of RC Lens and OM have decided, in view of their regular collaboration, to announce the arrival of the Spanish goalkeeper at RC Lens, welcoming of the new challenge offered to Pau Lopez in our Ligue 1 championship. This premature communication, initiated by RC Lens, was made without any legal validation and was therefore deleted very quickly by OM. Requested by OM on the evening of Tuesday January 7, Girona FC indicated that it would return the agreement for early termination of the loan the same evening or the following morning. Finally, on Wednesday January 8 in the middle of the day, Girona FC informed OM that it would be necessary to wait until January 22 for the operation to take place after their UCL match against AC Milan. Girona FC justified this position by an injury suffered by their third goalkeeper registered on their UEFA B list, Lucas Garcia, on Tuesday January 7 during training. Asked by OM to obtain additional explanations, Pau Lopez’s agent never responded. In any case, while the general agreement remained valid but was only delayed by a few days, RC Lens freely decided to put an end to this operation. Olympique de Marseille regrets this unprecedented situation and the impossibility for Pau Lopez to participate in the second part of the 2024/25 Ligue 1 championship in the Lensois jersey», We can read in a long press release.
More information to come…
