Lille only earned a pittance from top transfer Osimhen – Voetbal International

In 2020, the French club sold Osimhen to Napoli. The amount involved in that transition was estimated at around seventy million euros, a record for the Italian club. However, according to Létang, who was not yet president of the club at the time, Lille only kept a pittance of this amount.

In the end, only seven million euros came in to the Northern French. Even lower than the amounts that were previously released. Létang explained that. At the same time as the Nigerian’s deal, Lille bought four players from Napoli for around €20 million. ‘While they had a value of zero’, according to the chairman. All intermediaries, capital gains and commissions must be deducted from the amount. And then there was very little left at the bottom line. The police once raided the offices of both clubs as part of an investigation into possible fraud in the deal.

“Lille has earned much more from the sales of Carlos Baleba (thirty million euros to Brighton & Hove Albion, ed.) and Amadou Onana (forty million euros to Everton, ed.),” Létang concluded. “Those transactions did not involve kickbacks, commissions or intermediaries.” French and Italian authorities are currently conducting investigations to clarify certain transactions from the era of Gérard Lopez, Létang’s predecessor. Osimhen’s transition will undoubtedly also be studied.

David in Gomes
In the meantime, Létang is also busy with the current transfer policy. Two Lille players are being pulled heavily: Jonathan David and Angel Gomes. The two impress in France and are out of contract at the end of the season. Yet the club is not considering selling them in January. “There is no way that an important player who is doing well will leave us in January,” Létang said firmly. The club wants to keep the players in the hunt for new qualification for the Champions League. The risk is that they may see the duo walk out the door in the summer for nothing.

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