Lens sporting director says Lens ‘can’t do better’ than last season | OneFootball

RC Lens have come off the back of a historic season, during which they lifted the Coupe de France trophy for the first time and finished second in Ligue 1, ensuring UEFA Champions League qualification for next season. However, speaking on RMC Sport show Rothen s’enflamme, the club’s sporting director, Jean-Louis Léca, is pessimistic about repeating such a feat.

It could be a tough summer for Lens. The future of manager Pierre Sage remains up in the air, whilst key players are expected to leave. Club captain Adrien Thomasson is expected to be named a Stade Rennais player imminently, whilst the likes of Malang Sarr, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Mamadou Sangaré are all linked with summer exits.

Lens, having been bitten in the past, when they last qualified for the UCL, will not spend big to add to the squad, hence Leca’s intervention. The sporting director sought to quell expectations during his interview with RMC Sport.

“In the club’s 120-year history, we have played in the Champions League on four occasions. We aren’t a UCL club. However, it doesn’t prevent us from performing well, just as Stade Brestois did last season. But if people expect Lens to do better than last season, I will say it openly, we will not do better,” began Leca.

He continued, “We won’t finish first (in Ligue 1), and we will not win the Coupe de France next season. But when we are Racing Club de Lens, if we continue to promote our youth development, to give space for youth to perform, to create value, to improve our infrastructure, and our technical and medical staff, then we will give ourselves the possibility of playing in Europe and competing for another title in the next one, two, or three years. That is how we have to work.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle