The soap opera Brice Samba, who wants to join Rennes but who is currently retained by Lens, creates a bad atmosphere in the Sang et Or locker room.
It's the soap opera of the winter transfer window in Ligue 1 at the moment. After dropping 20 million euros on Al-Nassr to recruit Seko Fofana, Stade Rennais wants to bring in Brice Samba. The Breton club is not satisfied with the performance of Steve Mandanda and intends to change goalkeeper this January. The number two of the French team is desired by Jorge Sampaoli and an agreement did not seem very far away for around 15 million euros. But the discussions have taken an unexpected turn in recent hours, in particular because Hervé Sekli, goalkeeper coach of RC Lens, is also in discussions with Rennes to join Brittany.
The Lens locker room under tension
Scalded upon hearing the news, the Lensois board put a stop to negotiations, which Brice Samba does not like according to The Team. The national daily also explains in its today's edition that the situation of the captain of RC Lens has dampened the atmosphere in the Sang et Or locker room. “Because if the window is ajar for Samba, others would like to take advantage of the windfall” writes the daily. This issue thus upset several players who wanted to leave but to whom the Lens management said no, because internally, we know very well that the green light had been given to Brice Samba for a departure before the turnaround linked to the goalkeeper coach Hervé Sekli.
The management of RC Lens will now have to manage this episode as best they can, knowing that Rennes has still not given up on Brice Samba. Steve Mandanda's catastrophic performance in Nice on Friday evening definitely convinced the Rennes board of the need to recruit a goalkeeper this winter and Samba is still the number 1 target of Arnaud Pouille and Jorge Sampaoli. It now remains to be seen whether Lens will crack, at the risk of provoking the fury of several of its players.
