Lens – Troyes – Loïs Openda, immense potential, immediate contribution

He is already the new Lensois darling. Arrived this summer to compensate for the departure – or rather the non-return – of Arnaud Californication, Loïs Openda has already succeeded in his integration, and allowed Racing to snatch a point from Reims last week. Author of a goal in each of his last four matches, the Belgian is also and above all the new fruit of the effective recruitment strategy of the northern club.

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To find the young striker, the RCL prospected in the Eredivisie. With the exception of Ajax and PSV, two entities with a European dimension capable of sending their best elements directly to elite teams, the Dutch championship is a formidable laboratory for French clubs whose budgets are under control. Toulouse, for example, went for Thijs Dallinga at Excelsior, in the second division.

Creativity rewarded again

Lens delved higher: before landing in the North, Openda came out of two successful seasons on loan at Vitesse Arnhem, where he scored 22 goals in 66 Eredivisie matches. To afford a player of his talent, a member of a very promising new Belgian generation (Onana, Oyen, Raskin) and having completed his training in a club structured around a true philosophy of play, the Sang et Or had to put your hand in your pocket. After a transfer exceeding 10 million euros, the striker became the most expensive recruit in the history of the club.

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Forced risk taking. But measured. “We have to be creativeconfided Florent Ghisolfi, the sports coordinator, in an interview with L’Equipe. A Frankowski, if he is already in L1 or in Germany, he is untouchable for us. The difficulty, when you go to lower leagues, is to know if the player will have the level to quickly bring to the team. Our job is to reduce uncertainties, but there is always a part of it.”

Those surrounding Loïs Openda did not relate to her potential, but rather to her ability to make a difference in the face of better organized and armed defenses than in the Netherlands. His goals against Rennes, where he dominated Joe Rodon, or in Reimswhere he beat Agbadou, have already dispelled doubts.

He is simply a very complete attacker

“It was not easy to attack this very athletic last line with an organization that did not make it easy for us in the last meters, pointed out Haise afterwards, last weekend. But he never gave up. It is a quality of very high level player. He was rewarded and the team too.”

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Before starting negotiations, Lens had already obtained certainties about the personality of the man. “He is a young player who is very attentive, who seeks to progress on his strengths, because he must continue to work on them, but also on those where he is still a little less efficient.said the Lensois technician about him. He is very willing and generous.”

Fast, disconcerting and very comfortable technically, Openda is further fine-tuning its technical relationship with Florian Sotoca, the other RCL scorer. “When you play with a player like Lois, it’s always easieranalyzed the former Grenoble player at the very start of the season. He makes ball calls, he is good with his back to goal. He is simply a very complete attacker. ” The Belgian is more demanding with himself: “I can’t say it’s a totally successful start but it’s still a good start.” Wait to see more.

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