TRANSFERS – Clauss, OL, Ekitike, Chelsea, Doué, Fekir: The hot issues from the last day of the transfer window

Will OM part ways with their right side? This is the last big question of this winter transfer window in Marseille. The future of Jonathan Clauss, on contract until June 2025, has taken a very uncertain turn since the start of the week. Olympian leaders suddenly decided to make him a transferable player, pointing out his lack of involvement in recent weeks.

A departure remains very hypothetical, because no club has yet positioned itself to recruit the former Lensois. Lorenz Assignon, from Rennes, and Zeki Çelik, from Roma, were even contacted to replace him. Discussions are going well, even if OM must face competition from Galatasaray in these two files.

OL have already recorded five arrivals this winter, but should still welcome more people before the gong rings. West Ham’s Algerian winger Saïd Benrahma is set to join Les Gones via a loan paying around 5 million euros, according to The Team. A choice arrival, which would greatly expand the Rhone offensive sector.

At the same time, Lyon is pushing to recruit Belgian midfielder Orel Mangala from Nottingham Forest on a loan in a similar format. The progress of the file is less, but the negotiations would be on track to succeed. With his 12 selections for the Belgian team and his very defensive profile, Mangala would be another interesting recruit for OL. He has played 20 out of 22 possible matches with his club in the Premier League since the start of the season.

Eight minutes of play… and nothing more. Having become unwanted at PSG, Hugo Ekitike will be one of the names to watch on this final day of the transfer window. Although negotiations between the capital club and Eintracht Frankfurt have been taking place for several weeks, no total agreement has yet been reached between the parties. The latest German offer, a loan with purchase option located between 15 (depending on Bild) and 20 million euros (according to The Team).

But Paris, which would like an option of 30 million euros, made a counter-offer by accepting that this sum would be reached via bonuses and a percentage of future capital gains. To which Eintracht does not yet seem to have responded. Suffice to say that the next few hours promise to be intense on the Paris-Frankfurt axis. Please note, the deadline is set at 6 p.m., the time at which the doors of the German market will close definitively. Will Hugo Ekitike manage to cross them first?

It’s no longer a secret as his name has been linked to Tottenham in recent weeks: Conor Gallagher is of great interest to Spurs. For the moment, the latter have not sent an offer, but their attitude has become more urgent in recent hours, reports the English press.

Many pitfalls still remain to be overcome. Chelsea are asking for almost 60 million euros, and the player’s desires are not clearly geared towards a departure. But if the Premier League seismograph, which has not moved much this winter, must register one last vibration, it could well be this.

With only twelve matches on the clock, Clément Lenglet, on loan from Barça to Aston Villa, could take advantage of these last hours of the winter transfer window to find a way out. AC Milan would be on the lookout, even if nothing looks easy to recruit the French international. We must first find an agreement with the British club to terminate the current loan, then another with the Catalan one. Suffice to say that the game promises to be tight in this matter.

This is one of the rumors that stirred up the transfer window on Wednesday. Announced to Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia), with whom he had reached an agreement, Nabil Fekir finally had to give up this transfer estimated at 12 million euros excluding bonus. The reason is simple: Jota, who entered into this deal and should have taken the road to Andalusia, was forced to give it up due to the timing being too tight. In fact, the Saudi market closed its doors on Tuesday. And now ? If he will not join Karim Benzema, can Fekir still leave Betis by the end of the transfer window? Difficult, almost impossible. But according to The Team, West Ham would be particularly on the lookout. Distrust, therefore…

Stade Rennais does not intend to crack. Even less a few hours before the transfer window closes. However, according to The Team, Bayer Leverkusen would do anything to recruit Désiré Doué on this last day of the winter market. Under contract until 2026, the 18-year-old player would even have been the subject of an offer of 20 million euros (excluding bonus) from the leader of the Bundesliga, who would be ready to increase his offer according to the daily. Determined to postpone everything, the Breton club would not even wish to begin a possible negotiation for the departure of its nugget, also courted by Dortmund and Newcastle.

Everything was completed and recorded; but Juventus and Atlético Madrid finally canceled the loan of Moise Kean, who had nevertheless reached the Spanish capital last weekend to undergo his medical examination. The two clubs have not been able to agree on the convalescence time of the player, who is currently injured. Result, return to square one for the former PSG striker, lacking playing time on the Old Lady side. The goal now is simple: find him a way out before the end of the Italian transfer window scheduled for 8 p.m. We’ll have to act quickly.