Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 5:45 PM• Jonathan van Haaster • Last update: 18:30

Seko Fofana can officially call himself a player of Al-Nassr since Tuesday. The born Parisian comes over from RC Lens and signs a contract for the duration of three seasons. The transfer fee is 25 million euros: the transfer fee set in the midfielder’s contract.

Fofana turned out to be one of the better players of the last Ligue 1 season last season. As a central midfielder and captain, he was the driving force in the success formation of coach Franck Haise. Partly thanks to the defensive qualities of the eight-time Ivorian international and the scoring ability of Loïs Openda, the northern French were number two for the group stage of the Champions League. Les Sang et Or finished just one point behind champions Paris Saint-Germain.

After the departure of Openda, who opted for a multi-year contract with RB Leipzig, Lens sees his next star player leave the club. Their stellar season saw the pair nominated for Player of the Year in Ligue 1, along with Jonathan David (Lille OSC), Lionel Messi (PSG) and eventual winner Kylian Mbappé (PSG). At Al-Nassr, Fofana will be a teammate of Anderson Talisca and Cristiano Ronaldo, who already settled in Riyadh last winter. In addition, the Saudis also captured Marcelo Brozovic. The Croat came over from Internazionale this summer.

Alex Telles
Fofana will not be Al-Nassr’s last incoming transfer this summer. Transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano wrote earlier on Tuesday that Alex Telles is very likely to be the club’s next big signing. Al-Nassr has reached a verbal agreement with Manchester United, where the thirty-year-old Brazilian is committed until mid-2024. The left wing defender will thus be reunited with Ronaldo. The two Portuguese speakers were both under contract with Manchester United in the 2021/22 season.