Hazard, Osimhen, Leao! A ridiculous XI of players Lille sold for big profit | OneFootball

Lille have been one of Europe’s best operators over the last decade with the French side developing a welcome habit of spotting, developing and selling on talent.

Leny Yoro is the latest name to pass through the ranks and bank the club a big profit, after signing for Manchester United in a £52m deal this summer.

The centre-back follows a long line of Lille players to move on for eye-catching fees and we’ve compiled an incredibly talented XI of stars who earned the Ligue 1 team significant sums.

Goalkeeper: Mike Maignan (£12.6m)

Lille spotted the talent of Mike Maignan and brought across the goalkeeper from PSG for a fee of just £840,000. Maignan had failed to make a senior appearance for PSG but developed into one of Ligue 1’s best goalkeepers at Lille, where he was named the division’s Best Goalkeeper in 2018-19.

After twice leading Ligue 1 for clean sheets, he moved to AC Milan and helped the Rossoneri to the Serie A title in his debut campaign. Maignan won the division’s Best Goalkeeper award for his role in that triumph and has since cemented his place as France’s number-one goalkeeper.

Centre-back: Leny Yoro (£52m)

Leny Yoro has earned Lille a £52m windfall this summer after the academy graduate signed for Manchester United.

The 18-year-old’s exciting emergence saw him make 44 appearances last season and earn inclusion in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year after helping Lille to Champions League football. Manchester United’s big bid saw the Red Devils win a race featuring Real Madrid and PSG.

Centre-back: Gabriel Maghalaes (£27m)

Gabriel Maghalaes was plucked from Brazilian side Avaí FC before a breakout 2019-20 season in France led to transfer interest. Arsenal won the race to sign the centre-back from Lille for a fee of £27m.

The defender has become a cornerstone of Arsenal’s improvement under Mikel Arteta, helping the Gunners to the best defensive record in the Premier League in each of the last two seasons.

Centre-back: Sven Botman (£32m)

Sven Botman is another who rose rapidly at Lille, having arrived from Ajax after seeing his route to first-team football blocked in Amsterdam. He won the Ligue 1 title in his debut season with Lille and made 79 appearances across his two seasons with the club.

Botman signed for Newcastle for a fee of £32m in 2022 and has been a big hit at St James’ Park.

Midfield: Yves Bissouma (£15m)

Lille spotted Yves Bissouma at the 2016 Africa Nations Championship and agreed on a deal to sign the midfielder from AS Real Bamako.

Two seasons later, Brighton bought the Mali international for a fee of £15m, where he cemented a reputation as one of the best ball-winners in the Premier League. Tottenham signed Bissouma for £30m in 2022, earning Brighton their own sizeable profit on the player.

Midfield: Carlos Baleba (£23.2m)

Brighton returned to Lille to sign Carlos Baleba in 2023, having been impressed with the midfielder’s development in 18 months at Lille. The 20-year-old made 37 appearances during his debut campaign with the Seagulls and earned a senior debut for Cameroon in June. Baleba was nominated for the 2024 Golden Boy Award.

Midfield: Amadou Onana (£33m)

Another impactful midfield presence, Amadou Onana signed for Lille from German second-tier side Hamburg in 2021. After just one season in French football, Onana transferred to the Premier League to sign for Everton in a £33m deal.

Lille turned over a profit of more than £20m after just one season of service from the Belgian.

Right-wing: Nicolas Pepe (£72m)

Nicolas Pepe might just be the best business Lille have done. The French side picked up the mercurial winger from divisional rivals Angers for a fee of €10m (£8.4m) and across two seasons turned Pepe into one of Europe’s most coveted wide players.

The Ivorian scored 22 goals and provided 11 assists during the 2018-19 season, persuading Arsenal to break their transfer record to sign him. Pepe moved to the Premier League for a staggering sum of £72m but failed to live up to expectations in North London.

The 29-year-old is currently a free agent after leaving Trabzonspor this summer.

Left-wing: Eden Hazard (£32m)

Eden Hazard remains the jewel in the Lille crown and arguably the club’s most celebrated player.

Hazard became the first non-French player to win the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season award in his first full season and retained the accolade the following campaign, becoming the first player to do so.

The following two seasons saw Hazard claim France’s senior Player of the Year awards, with the first coming alongside Ligue 1 title success for Lille in 2010-11. He scored 22 goals in 2011-12 to earn a £32m move to Chelsea.

Hazard’s seven seasons in West London saw him win six major trophies and cement a reputation as one of the greatest wide players of the Premier League era.

Forward: Rafael Leao (£29.4m)

Lille snapped up Rafael Leao on a free transfer in June 2018 after the forward terminated his contract with Sporting Lisbon, citing an attack on the club’s players and staff by a group of supporters at Sporting’s training facility a month earlier.

Leao spent one season in Ligue 1 and scored eight goals in 26 appearances before AC Milan stumped up €35m (£29.4m) to sign the Portuguese prospect.

In five seasons at Milan, he has evolved into one of Europe’s most exciting wide players and was named Serie A’s Footballer of the Year after the club’s title success in 2021-22.

Forward: Victor Osimhen

Victor Osimhen is another player whose spell at Lille was cut short due to a big transfer. The Nigerian signed for Lille from Charleroi for a fee of £12.6m in 2019 and he scored 18 goals in an encouraging first season in France.

Napoli wasted no time in signing the exciting forward, agreeing a club-record €70m (£58.8m) deal. It has proven to be money well spent, as Osimhen has plundered 76 goals in 133 appearances for the Italian side. He was the league’s leading scorer as Napoli won Serie A in 2022-23, a first Scudetto in 33 years.

Read – Yoro in? The five most expensive French players in Premier League history

See more – Ranking every Premier League club by their record signing

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