The departures of Seko Fofana and Loïs Openda offer great leeway to Racing Club de Lens for the rest of the transfer window.
Runner-up to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of an exceptional season, Racing Club de Lens has confirmed its ticket to the prestigious Champions League. The Sang et Or will be making a comeback in the most elite of club competitions, almost two decades after their last participation. But to meet this great challenge, Franck Haise will have to rely on a competitive and balanced workforce.
Very active at the start of the transfer window, Racing Club de Lens has been faithful to its recruitment strategy, based on anticipation. And if the artesian club has worked hard to attract recruits capable of blending into Franck Haise’s collective project, departures also condition the rest of the summer. In this column, two operations obviously hold the attention of the supporters: the transfers of Loïs Openda and Seko Fofana.
Lens is building a very competitive squad
Top scorer for Racing Club de Lens in Ligue 1 last season, Loïs Openda was sold to RB Leipzig for an amount of around 50 million euros – bonus included. A record sale in club history. Captain Seko Fofana has meanwhile made the choice to take the plunge to respond to the sirens of Saudi Arabia.
Still, the sporting losses of these two important players will be offset by the financial resources generated by their transfers. In terms of compensation, but also salary. And this financial margin allows Racing Club de Lens to pull out all the stops to extend other strong links in its workforce. Thus, the Austrian defender Kevin Danso should re-enlist for an additional season with the Sang et Or. According to information from Saber Desfarges, the two parties have reached an agreement for the signing of this new contract. This is an excellent operation for Lens, since Danso was one of the most highly rated defenders in Ligue 1. The Austrian was notably in the sights of Napoli, champion of Italy.
