With his move to Leipzig having been over a month in the making, Loïs Openda looked to have sealed his departure from Lens yesterday when German media indicated that a deal had been struck between the two clubs following the Bundesliga side’s latest offer.
However, L’Équipe report this morning that there is no agreement in place for the time being, and that Lens are holding out for a €50m transfer fee with add-ons included – the latest proposal amounting to €44m, which was turned down. In any case, Leipzig and the Sang et Or are still in contact, and the Belgian international is edging closer to leaving Ligue 1.
The club’s CEO Arnaud Pouille had confirmed last week that a third bid had come in for the striker, but that there was still some distance, and that “the first two [offers] were not worth discussing”.
According to L’Équipe, the latest offer consists of a €40m base fee along with €6m in attainable add-ons, as well as a friendly to be played between the two teams in Lens and a cut of Openda’s prospective future transfer fee. After a 21-goal season, the forward would be leaving for over four times the cost of his arrival from Club Brugge last summer.
Another round of negotiations is scheduled for this Thursday, during which an agreement is expected to be found – at which point Openda will travel to Germany to undergo his medical.
GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin