Lille Wiretap

Olivier Giroud will join Lille after he and LAFC agreed to terminate his contract. Giroud had another six months remaining on his contract, but wanted to return to France.

Giroud's last game for LAFC will be on Sunday against Vancouver and he will arrive in France next week to sign his contract.

"I want to thank all of the fans, my teammates and the staff at LAFC for making this an enjoyable stop in my career," Giroud said in LAFC's statement. "I am happy to have played a part in the success of LAFC.

"From winning a trophy last season to participating in the Club World Cup, this has been a great experience in L.A. for me and my family."

Manchester United have beat out Real Madrid to sign 18-year-old center back Leny Yoro from Lille for $67.6 million with a potential $8.7 million in add-ons. Yoro initially wanted to sign with Madrid, but the Champions League holders decided not to engage in a bidding war with United.

"Signing for a club with the stature and ambition of Manchester United so early in my career is an incredible honour," Yoro said as part of the announcement. "Since my first conversations with the club, they set out a clear plan for how I can develop in Manchester as part of this exciting project, and showed a lot of care for me and my family.

"I know about the history of young players at Manchester United and feel it can be the perfect place to reach my potential and achieve my ambitions, together with my new teammates. I cannot wait to get started."

In 30 matches last season in Ligue 1, Yoro had a 6.74 WhoScored rating. Yoro is a modern center back with his height, pace and ability on the ball.

Manchester United are close to sealing a $67.9 million transfer with Lille for Leny Yoro. Yoro had fired a transfer to Real Madrid and had been initially resistant to a move to United, but the club had a breakthrough in their negotiations.

Yoro is regarded as one of the brightest young defensive talents in Europe after becoming a first-team regular at Lille. He made his senior debut as a 16-year-old at the end of the 2021-22 season.

West Ham has identified Paulo Fonseca as a potential replacement at manager for David Moyes.

The club has yet to make a final decision on Moyes, but are widely expected to fire him in the summer. West Ham are just four points above the relegation zone.

Fonseca favors an attacking style and was close to joining West Ham in 2018.

Everton has signed Amadou Onana from Lille for €40 million ($41 million).

Onana is Everton’s fifth summer signing following the arrivals of Conor Coady, Dwight McNeil, Rúben Vinagre and James Tarkowski and represents a coup for manager Frank Lampard and director of football Kevin Thelwell given the interest in the rising talent. 

“It feels great to join Everton,” said Onana. “I know it’s a big, big club, one of the biggest in England. It’s something I want to be part of for many years. Everyone here showed they really wanted me and they have a plan for me, so I really appreciated the talks I had with the manager and director of football. They told me how they wanted me to play and I enjoyed it. They both have a lot of ambition and that’s the type of guy I am so it matches.

“The manager was one of the big reasons. He played at the highest level, won many things and was a midfielder, too. It means a lot to have interest from him and I think he can teach me many things. The Everton fans are amazing. I saw their support last season and it’s also one of the reasons why I chose Everton. I am looking forward to meeting them at Goodison and, just hearing about the atmosphere, I get goosebumps. Blue is my favourite color, too!”

Lille beat Angers 2-1 on Sunday, winning Ligue 1 for the fifth time in club history.

Lille's title represents the first time PSG haven't won the league since 2017.

"It's a great performance. It's incredible," said manager Christophe Galtier after the match. "It was a long, tough day, we were under a lot of pressure and beating PSG on the last day is outstanding. The credit goes to the players. This team scored points against their title rivals. I can't forget that they beat PSG away after losing against Nimes at home.

Galtier is rumored to be leaving the club after this season.

Lille topped the table for 18 out of Ligue 1's 37 matchdays. 

Arsenal are reportedly close to signing Lille centerback Gabriel Magalhaes.

The 22-year-old has also been linked with Napoli and Manchester City in recent weeks.

Arsenal's $28 million bid was accepted by the Ligue 1 side.

Gabriel was left out of Lille's match against Renne on Saturday. 

Arsenal are attempting to sign Gabriel Magalhas of Lille with an offer of approximately £22 million.

The Gunners are in the market for another centre-back despite William Saliba returning from a season-long loan at Saint-Etienne, as well as signing Pablo Mari on a permanent basis from Flamengo.

Napoli and Everton have also pursued Gabriel.

Napoli are confident they will sign Victor Osimhen and Gabriel from Lille for a combined fee of €100 million.

The offer made by Napoli is split €70m for Osimhen and €30m for Gabriel, which meets Lille's asking price.

Osimhen would have preferred a transfer to the Premier League.

Several Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 sides could declare bankruptcy within the next 6 months if matches are canceled due to COVID-19.

"I am very, very, very worried for all the clubs," he said. "Without state aid, within six months, half of professional clubs will have to file for bankruptcy. The five major leagues have already lost €4 billion and the French league between €500m and €600m," said the president of Saint-Etienne's supervisory board, Bernard Caiazzo.

Lyon were the first Ligue 1 side to adopt the policy of partial employment which funds a portion of the staff's salaries.

Caiazzo adds that the funds are not enough to cover a functioning side.

He added that there will hardly be a transfer window due to an overall lack of funds.

"There will also be no transfer window. Our neighbours will not have the resources to buy players this summer. However, some Ligue 1 clubs are banking on sales by the end of June. Not to mention the €170m less in TV rights money, as well as a box office shortfall."