AS Roma Prospect Signs With Lille

By: Julien | June 24th, 2008

France Football reports that Lille has signed a three year professional contract with Yannis Salibur. Salibur played with the France U-17 Team in a recent European U-17 Championship. He was a member of Lille’s CFA (Divison 4 French football) squad. Yannis shows great potential and has even attracted AS Roma.

Le Parisien reports that Florent Balmont will sign with Lille in the upcoming days. The newspaper says that he agrees with LOSC’s three year contract. The midfielder currently plays for OGC Nice.

Mercato365.fr has revealed that Kevin Mirallas received a four year contract offer from Saint-Étienne. Several other clubs want him including Tottenham, Espanyol, ASSE, Marseille, Bordeaux, and PSG. I think Olympique Lyonnais want him as well. LOSC management, however, still doesn’t want to discuss a potential Mirallas departure. Good news for Lille supporters considering his abilities and passion to score. Somebody please tell me that he will stay. I don’t think we can afford to lose another key player. Especially one with his potential. Mirallas already has several caps with the Belgium National Football Team.

Rafaël Schmitz is now officially an Athénien. Valenciennes FC’s official website announced his arrival. The Brazilian has signed a 3 year contract with the other Nordiste club (Nordiste clubs-Lille, Lens, Valenciennes) worth 1 million euros. Rumors did circulate that he would just stay in Birmingham. He was on loan there last season. Schmitz said that he left Lille on a positive note. According to him it was a calm transfer, meaning there was no falling out with the LOSC management. He also expressed his satisfaction with Valenciennes: “I am glad that I could come to VAFC.”

Senegalese midfielder Guirane N’Daw is now linked to a possible move to Lille. FC Nantes was a close possibility, but they did not meet the financial demands that Sochaux wanted. Along with Lille, Olympique Lyonnais, Rangers, Celtic, Stoke City, and ASSE have shown interest in signing him. N’Daw is a promising young defensive midfielder. I think he would fit well into Garcia’s youth development plan.

Geoffrey Dernis is considering whether he should leave ASSE or not. Benfica, Espanyol, Nancy and Lille want Dernis, which makes his decision difficult. Should he stay in France or play in Spain or Portugal. Staying in France is seen as failure for so many French players. His thoughts:
“I will look at everything. All of the doors are open. But I will not go anywhere. If I leave it will be because the challenge is better elsewhere. ASSE will play in the UEFA Cup. I don’t want to leave for nothing.” Well playing in La Liga is a nice challenge. That sounds like a good option for Dernis. Geoffrey was asked recently if he would return to Lille. His response:
“They spoke to me about it…. LOSC has had bad losses including Claude Puel.” Dernis isn’t yet convinced to return to Lille. Maybe if we make a big signing he might change his mind.