Olivier Létang stands firm as Matias Fernandez-Pardo seeks summer exit from Lille | OneFootball

Olivier Létang is standing firm, insisting Matias Fernandez-Pardo will not be allowed to leave Lille this summer despite the forward’s wish to move.

According to L'Équipe, the club president told the 21-year-old and his new agent this week that a transfer is not on the agenda, with the player contracted until 2029. Létang met the agent on Monday and spoke to Fernandez-Pardo on Tuesday.

Fernandez-Pardo is due back at training on Saturday alongside Ayyoub Bouaddi and compatriot Nathan Ngoy after Belgium’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to Spain, 1-2. He played 40 minutes across the three group games, then did not feature again. He has had three weeks of post-tournament leave.

Signed from La Gantoise in August 2024 for €10m, the Belgium international, five caps, has been contemplating an exit for nearly a year and recently changed representative for the third time in two years. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Atlético Madrid are interested.

Lille’s need is acute after Hamza Igamane’s serious right knee injury in the Africa Cup of Nations final on 18 January, with the Moroccan not expected before October. Davide Ancelotti plans to rely on Fernandez-Pardo and Olivier Giroud at number nine, with priority to the Belgian. The club believe he could deliver a major season and raise his value with Champions League exposure.

The Champions League league phase starts on Tuesday 8 September, and the window closes a week earlier. The player and his new representative maintain he was granted permission to leave this summer, a claim the president firmly denies. Whether relations ease or the stand-off continues should become clear in August.

Source: L'Équipe