According to Foot Mercato, RC Lens and Panathinaikos entered into an agreement for Anass Zaroury’s loan, including a purchase option. The young Moroccan international, who arrived in Lens a year ago from Burnley for about 7 million euros and on the recommendation of the Still brothers, failed to settle on the team for a long time. Although he showed brilliant flashes in his first season, he encountered tactical adaptation difficulties and his performances (2 goals and 3 assists in 28 Ligue 1 matches) did not meet expectations. This decision follows an assessment of the Lens workforce, which was deemed too numerous and did not fully correspond to the game philosophy desired by Pierre Sage.

This loan operation is part of a broader desire of RC Lens’s new sports management to break with the previous choices of the former team, led by Pierre Dreoos and Diego Lopez. The recruitment policy of Diego Lopez, former sports director, was not considered successful, with few players recruited last year remaining on the current roster. This situation illustrates a significant shift in the club’s sports management, aimed at reorienting the team towards a more coherent and efficient model.

The future of the Lensian mercato now raises important questions. Will the confirmed or probable departures of Anass Zaroury and Jérémy Agbonifo require reinforcements to compensate for these losses? The sports management will therefore have to act with caution and relevance to maintain the level of competitiveness of RC Lens and support the club’s ambitions for the coming season. The success of this new strategy will depend on its ability to identify and recruit players capable of effectively integrating into the game system set up by Pierre Sage.

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