Mercato: Samba to Rennes and more!
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After a relatively slow start to the mercato, with only Anthony Lopes and Séko Fofana among the headline players to move, yesterday saw the window spark to life, with several players changing hands.
Samba to Rennes
The big move of the day, and one that had long been mooted, saw Stade Rennais acquire French international goalkeeper Brice Samba from Racing Club de Lens. The 30-year-old, who has played for Le Sang et Or for three seasons since joining from Nottingham Forest, helping them finish in the European places twice, moves to Brittany on a contract running through 2029. With three caps for France, he will take the number one position from the experienced Steve Mandanda.
In coming to Rennes, Samba will reunite with Fofana and the two's success together at Lens is something the goalkeeper is eager to repeat, telling the club's website, "I want to be as decisive as possible, that's what got me into the French national team and I hope to continue in that vein. It's also a great pleasure to see Seko again, we've been talking a lot recently. I'm obviously looking forward to renewing our bond, it's been our strength in the past and to be able to repeat what we've been able to do would be extraordinary."
Pour le rôle majeur joué dans l'histoire récente du Racing, les innombrables parades homériques et les émotions suscitées, 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆. ❤️💛 pic.twitter.com/fBAn39pBvo
— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) January 8, 2025
Benatia named at OM, López to Lens off
Elsewhere, Olympique de Marseille have been busy as well. They named Mehdi Benatia their director of football, and also announced the arrival of central defender Luiz Felipe on a free transfer. Felipe, Brazilian by birth, has won a single cap for Italy, and while the bulk of his experience on this side of the Atlantic has come with Lazio, he also has experience in Spain and Saudi Arabia. Benatia, a product of Marseille's academy, spent much of his playing career in Italy, and after working for more than a year in an advisory capacity, has been given a new formal role to help his boyhood club continue to improve.
Lens thought they had a replacement for Samba in Marseille goalkeeper Pau López, currently on loan at Girona, but Le Sang et Or and the Spanish side were unable to reach an agreement for the end of his loan. Finally, Auxerre have announced the arrival on loan of defensive midfielder Han-Noah Massengo. A product of the AS Monaco academy, he had previously spent part of the 2022/23 season with the eastern club.
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