The day after the Champions League draw, during which it will have the opportunity to cross swords with the greats of Europe (Real, Juventus, Liverpoll, Atlético), LOSC strengthened its squad a little more during the last day of the transfer window, which officially ended this Friday at 11 p.m. After having made official at the end of the afternoon the departure on loan of striker Andrej Ilic to Union Berlin and the arrival of Marc-Aurèle Caillard as third goalkeeper, two more resounding recruits were announced by the club during the evening.
The priority was to enlist a left-back defender following the injury to Brazilian Ismaily, who underwent meniscus surgery on Thursday, which will keep him out of action for at least two months. After trying the leads leading to Spaniard Sergio Reguilon (Tottenham) and Frenchman Stanley Nsoki (Hoffenheim), LOSC finally set its sights on Dutchman Mitchel Bakker, 24, who has the advantage of knowing Ligue 1 where he left a good impression during his time at PSG from 2019 to 2021. He then played two seasons at Bayer Leverkusen and was transferred last summer to Atalanta Bergamo for just over nine million euros. Lacking playing time in Lombardy where he faces very strong competition, Mitchell Bakker arrives in the North on loan.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo returns home
The other big issue for Lille was to strengthen its attacking sector. Here too, several names had been circulating for several days, including that of the Dutchman Arnaut Danjuma (Villarreal) who was finally loaned to Girona. Interest was also mentioned for the German international Julian Draxler, 30, who spent six years at PSG between 2017 and 2023 and played last season at Al-Ahli, in Qatar. LOSC finally bet on the future and on a player who is much less greedy in terms of salary in the person of the very young Belgian Matias Fernandez-Pardo, the left winger of La Gantoise, who can also play up front or as a second striker.
Aged 19, Matias Fernandez-Pardo was the revelation of the end of last season in Belgium. He was on the tablets of many clubs (AS Roma, Frankfurt, Southampton) and had even received a direct offer from Hoffenheim, in the Bundesliga. The player finally chose LOSC, a club whose academy he already attended from 2014 to 2020. The transfer amount is estimated at 12 million euros, bonuses included, for a five-year contract.
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