Nantes striker Andy Delort closing in on a move to Qatar | OneFootball

With his loan move from Nice to Nantes now made permanent, Andy Delort could be set for a swift departure from Les Canaris, just six months after joining.

According to Ouest-France, the Algerian international is close to joining Umm Salal in Qatar, where he would notably join compatriot and former Le Havre man Victor Lekhal. The team finished tenth out of twelve teams in the league last season.

During his half-season in the west of France, Delort will have found the net twice in the Coupe de France on the team’s road to the final. He did not score a single goal in league action. With Les Aiglons, he will have scored a career-best 16 top-flight goals in the 2021/22 campaign, adding another six in the first half of last season.

The 31-year-old was keen to leave the club, and Nantes had been looking to free up space on its wage bill. The move to Qatar will be the former Montpellier marksman’s second experience abroad, having briefly played for André-Pierre Gignac’s Tigres in Mexico during the 2016/17 campaign before signing for Toulouse.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin