Jean-Philippe Mateta has just broken Sadio Mane’s four-year transfer record for the French third-tier.
Liverpool’s Saido Mane shoots
Yesterday saw Lyon sign Jean-Philippe Mateta on a five-year deal, utilising the ‘joker’ rule to bring him in from Chateauroux outside the transfer window.
In France clubs are allowed to make one signing from a domestic rival after the window has closed and Lyon have done so to snap up Mateta.
The deal will not sit well with Tottenham Hotspur fans.
They were also heavily linked with a move for the player.
His agent even confirmed that Spurs made a move and had been rejected, stating to Foot Mercato:
“Concerning Tottenham, it is quite clear that the player does not want to go abroad. He is 19, he does not want to skip steps.”
L’Equipe reported yesterday the Rhone club will pay an eventual fee in the region of €5 million to bring him to the club.
Liverpool’s Sadio Mane in action with Leicester City’s Kasper Schmeichel
That fee will make him the most expensive player ever signed from French football’s third tier. The player whose record he is breaking is Liverpool star Sadio Mane – as reported by Robin Bairner.
Mane left Metz for Red Bull Salzburg in 2012 for a fee reported by Die Presse to be in the region of €4 million.
This deal surpasses that certainly suggests the talented forward has the attributes to go far, just as the Senegalese star has in the Premier League.
With the 19-year-old scoring five goals in six games so far this season there is no doubting his promise and why Tottenham were so keen.
Perhaps Spurs have just missed out on the next Sadio Mane.
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