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Even if football clubs can still hire a wild card or a player free of any contract, the bulk of the summer transfer window ended Tuesday, August 31, at midnight. Despite the economic crisis affecting many clubs, including the wealthiest, the end of the transfer market generated some high amounts and revealed that some African players were in high demand.
- Ilaix Moriba (Guinea), from FC Barcelona to RB Leipzig
The beautiful story between the young Guinean midfielder Ilaix Moriba (18) and FC Barcelona ended in bitterness. Barely transferred to RB Leipzig for 15 million euros and 5 more bonuses, the player, who decided to wear the jersey of Guinea, while he also has Spanish nationality, lamented the attitude of the Catalan club , which would have been incorrect during the last weeks of a cohabitation that has become impossible.
Barça had seen as an affront the decision of Ilaix Moriba to reject offers to extend a contract which ended on June 30, 2022. The new Guinean international, who played his first professional match in January, will play in the League champions with his new formation. The chance of the draw placed RB Leipzig in the same group as Paris-SG, and Ilaix Moriba will meet a certain Lionel Messi, his former teammate in Spain …
- Amine Harit (Morocco), from Schalke 04 in Marseille
A little over four years after leaving FC Nantes, Moroccan international Amine Harit (24) is back in France. He was loaned without a purchase option by Schalke 04, relegated to German Ligue 2, in Marseille. However, OM had all the trouble in the world to finalize the operation, because of its finances made fragile by the health crisis.
For the file to be validated by the Professional Football League (LFP), the French club proved that its accounts were able to cover the Moroccan’s salary. The latter, which was grossing 3.5 million euros per year in Germany, agreed to make financial efforts. And three players from the Marseille squad – the Spaniards Alvaro Gonzalez and Pol Lirola and the Argentinian Leonardo Belardi – have also offered their leaders to reduce their salaries, in order to welcome their new teammate.
- Maxwell Cornet (Ivory Coast), from Olympique Lyonnais to Burnley
Six years ago, Lyon bought Maxwell Cornet, then 18, for 200,000 euros from FC Metz. OL have therefore just achieved a very good financial transaction by selling the Ivorian international (24 years old) for 15 million euros to Burnley, an English Premier League club, an amount cut by 1.5 million euros, donated to Metz. The player, who has long been reluctant to sign at Burnley, will earn less in England than in Lyon, where he received 185,000 euros per month, but the length of his contract – five years – will largely fill this gap. to win.
Sportingly, it is however not certain that this versatile player, capable of evolving left winger or left side, will ultimately win. He leaves Lyon, used to the top places in Ligue 1 and European competitions, for a club whose main ambition is to save its place among the elite of English football.
- Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal), from FC Metz to Tottenham Hotspur
A year ago, no one in Europe knew Pope Matar Sarr (18). Arrived in Metz in September 2020, from Generation Foot, the Senegalese club partner of the Lorraine club, the midfielder revealed himself last season, playing 28 matches with the Garnets. Performances that have attracted the attention of several clubs, including that of Tottenham, one of the richest in England. And the leaders of the prestigious London formation did not skimp on the arguments to convince the player and FC Metz. The transfer, excluding bonuses, is estimated at 20 million euros, for a six-year contract.
But the player, his entourage and FC Metz had set some conditions at the time of the discussions. Pape Matar Sarr, who is still a young player, wanted to finish the 2021-2022 season in Moselle, in order to gain a little more experience, before discovering the ruthless English Premier League. A request accepted by Tottenham, also anxious not to precipitate the progression of the career of the one who has been Senegalese international since March.
- Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Morocco), Hercules Alicante at FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona, in the grip of serious financial difficulties and which lost Lionel Messi (Paris-SG) and Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) during the summer transfer window, is however thinking of the future. The Catalan club proved it by paying 2 million euros to Hercules Alicante, a formation of Third Division, in order to obtain the arrival for three years of the young Moroccan midfielder Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (19 years).
Born in Béni Mellal, in central Morocco, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli arrived very early in Spain with his family, and it was in Alicante, who had bought him 185,000 euros at his former club Elche, that he knew how to stand out. Obviously, Barcelona’s decision-makers believe in him, since the amount of his release clause has been set at … 200 million euros. In other words, the sum that will have to pay – in theory – the club wishing to recruit the player before the end of his contract, on June 30, 2024!
