Lille OSC are not giving up on Gjivai Zechiël. The French club previously offered around €10 million for the Feyenoord midfielder, but have now come back with an even bigger offer.
That follows the record sale of Ayoub Bouaddi to Manchester City. The 18-year-old top talent will bring Lille a fixed transfer fee of €95 million, which means the French sub-top side can now presumably push much further for Zechiël.
"There is concrete interest from Lille. That was already there, but they have now sold a player for around one hundred million and they are now knocking even harder at the door," Dennis Kranenburg explained on Rijnmond Sport.
According to the club watcher, technical director Dévy Rigaux has received a substantially improved bid. "Zechiël’s market value on Transfermarkt is still only €10 million. And I understand that there is now an offer on the table of €17 million, including bonuses."
Whether that fee is enough to convince Feyenoord to sell remains doubtful. Club chiefs now see Zechiël as a key player for next season and would rather keep him.
"The question is whether Feyenoord will choose not to let a decisive and perhaps even the best player at this moment leave, for the sake of sporting considerations," Kranenburg said. "Or whether an amount will come that they simply cannot refuse."
For Feyenoord to tie Zechiël down, they must extend his contract, which runs until 2028. "The only question is whether they can compete with the salaries offered at Lille, for example," Kranenburg said.