Mikautadze is not seen as an idealistic fit for the football that they hope to play at the Johan Cruyff Arena, and Ajax would like to sell the Georgian, Mohamed Toubache-Ter reports. The Eredivisie strugglers are hoping to generate interest from several Ligue 1 clubs, but the newly promoted side are strongly considering the return of the 23-year-old.

The Lyon academy graduate has struggled to make an impact in the Netherlands only making 4 appearances in the Eredivisie to date with Ajax finding themselves at the bottom of the table in the Dutch top flight. The Dutch giants are unlikely to let Mikautadze leave cheaply following their big outlay on the attacker in the summer which could make any move for Metz difficult. 

GFFN | Liam Wraith

L’Équipe reports that Adi Hütter is set to rotate in attack with Folarin Balogun set to be the casualty and drop to the bench with former Liverpool attacker Takumi Minamino returning to the fore. This is despite the US international being on the scoresheet for Les Monégasques against Reims before the international break. 

Soungoutou Magassa and Denis Zakaria will both miss out due to suspension. This will see Christian Matsima return to the left side of a defensive three with Mohamed Camara taking the place of the suspended Swiss international in a midfield pairing alongside Youssouf Fofana.  

Krepin Diatta and Ismail Jakobs will keep their places on the flanks with Brazilian wing-backs Caio Henrique and Vanderson both missing due to injury. Ben Yedder and Alexsandr Golovin should keep their places in attack. 

Monaco likely XI vs Metz: 

Philipp Köhn – Wilfried Singo, Guillermo Maripán, Christian Matsima – Krepin Diatta, Mohamed Camara, Youssouf Fofana, Ismal Jakobs – Alexsandr Golovin, Wissam Ben Yedder, Takumi Minamino

GFFN | Liam Wraith

Todibo has begun the season in brilliant form. There is no question of him being distracted by the transfer speculation that surrounded him throughout the transfer window. Ultimately, he remained with Nice, despite interest from Manchester United, and given his latest France call-up, it is perhaps a wise choice ahead of Euro 2024 at the end of the season. 

Todibo and centre-back partner Dante are used to seeing plenty of the ball under Francesco Farioli, but Todibo’s 190 touches against Metz is perhaps without precedent. Since Opta started taking data on Ligue 1 in the 2006-07 season, no player has registered more touches in a match in France’s top flight. “It’s huge,” admitted Farioli post-match. 

He also attempted 181 passes, beating Thiago Motta’s previous record for PSG against Bastia in 2016, and succeeded in making 165 of those passes. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Farioli isn’t expected to make any changes to the side that drew 0-0 against Stade Brestois last weekend. The Italian manager has seemingly set on his strongest XI in recent weeks, and since Jeremie Boga’s return from injury, there has been very little turnover. 

Romain Perraud’s arrival on loan from Southampton spelt trouble for Melvin Bard, but the latter has since upped his level, and has consolidated his place in the side, whilst on the opposite side of the defence, Youcef Atal looks to have won his battle against Jordan Lotomba. 

Nice likely lineup v Metz

Marcin Bulka; Melvin Bard, Dante, Jean-Clair Todibo, Youcef Atal; Khéphren Thuram, Youssouf Ndayishimiye, Morgan Sanson; Jeremie Boga, Terem Moffi, Gaëtan Laborde. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Since promotion in 2020, transfer guru Florent Ghisolfi has expertly unearthed a string of under-the-radar talents helping coach Franck Haise and his team to play aggressive and positive yet solid football. Lens repeatedly hurt teams via a multitude of means: their pacey strikers, a dynamic midfield, and marauding wing-backs, while also finishing last term with Ligue 1’s best defensive record.

Over recent windows, key players such as holding midfielder Cheick Doucouré, wing-back Jonathan Clauss, and centre-back Loïc Badé were sold and replaced with ease while Haise’s team continued on their upward curve. At the centre of the revolution, just as important as Haise and Ghisolfi, was captain Séko Fofana. A destroyer, dynamo, goalscorer, and conductor all in one, Fofana ran Lens’ on-field operation.

This year, however, that triumvirate has been picked apart, and just as Lens seemingly achieved their greatest feat in making the Champions League group stages, results have nosedived. Having won 11 of their final 12 games last season, only losing at PSG, Lens have collected just one point from five games this campaign.

The winter saw Ghisolfi poached by an ambitious Nice outfit, before the summer brought Fofana’s departure for Saudi Arabia. With Haise’s engine removed and without Ghisolfi to conjure a replacement, Haise has, so far, been unable to maintain the club’s performance on his own.

Three different players have been tested in place of Fofana. One, Belgian midfield energizer Stijn Spierings, has already left after just one start. Another, 20-year-old midfielder Andy Diouf, who signed from Basel for €14m this off-season, is talented but raw and well short of replacing Fofana. In truth, although Lens typically concluded much of their business early, it was a weak transfer window compared to recent years.

Although receiving €38m for top scorer Loïs Openda from RB Leipzig can be seen as a good deal, €30m was spent on replacing the Belgian with promising Montpellier striker Elye Wahi, while Fofana’s €25m fee was mostly spent on depth rather than outright quality. Surprisingly, for a team entering the Champions League, Lens made a €4m profit on their summer business according to Transfermarkt.

The previous summer under Ghisolfi saw goalkeeper Brice Samba, a new France international, and Salis Abdul Samed, now one of the league’s leading defensive midfielders, arrive for just €5m each. Centre-back Kevin Danso, arguably Ligue 1’s standout player last term, was poached from Augsburg for only €5.5m the summer before, along with Przemyslaw Frankowski, now Haise’s leading wing-back, who joined from Chicago Fire for just €2.3m. Badé and Clauss, most impressively, arrived on free transfers in 2020.

As a result, there remains a huge Fofana-shaped hole in Haise’s midfield. Gone with the Ivorian are Lens’ intensity, aggression, and drive. Once Ligue 1’s most assured and confident team, Lens now appear comparatively rudderless and meek. The weekend’s home defeat to promoted Metz underlines the decline. Before Haise could point to unsurprising losses away at PSG and Monaco, Adrian Thomasson’s sending off at Brest, and a battling draw with Rennes, but there was no excuse for a such a  lifeless home defeat to the league’s weakest team on paper – their fast start notwithstanding.

Now, Lens head to Seville for their first competitive European trip since 2007, bottom of Ligue 1 and without two-thirds of the trio that made this current incarnation of Les Sang et Or an example for the rest of the league to follow. Although the boisterous Stade Bollaert will remain a cauldron for the visits of Sevilla, Arsenal, and PSV, hopes of what seemed like a plausible run into the knockout rounds are quickly evaporating.

Most worryingly for Haise, with the window now closed, replacing Fofana externally isn’t possible, while options are increasingly limited internally. Diouf is, for now, out of his depth. Attacking midfielder Thomasson, who started in a deeper role against Metz, is out of position as a Fofana replacement. Workaholic Spierings could have been a useful option but struggled to settle and returned to Toulouse.

It all points to a complete redesign of the team to compensate for Fofana’s absence, but Haise, with six Champions League games separating what are now a host of crucial Ligue 1 games between now and Christmas as Lens tries to avoid a relegation battle, doesn’t have the time or the resources to do so effectively. Nevertheless, a solution will need to be found quickly. Lens’ season depends on it.

Adam White | GFFN

Bölöni’s contract with the newly promoted side had been expected to expire at the end of the season. He orchestrated Metz’s return to Ligue 1 in his debut season with the club. This season, Metz have five points (one win, two draws, one loss), one of which came against Olympique de Marseille at the Vélodrome, despite Bölöni’s side being down to 10 men for much of the second half. 

Bölöni, as well as the rest of his staff (Christophe Delmotte, Christophe Marichez, Florian Simon and Sébastien Roi), have now seen their contracts extended by a further season, as announced by the club on Thursday.  Metz are currently 13th in Ligue 1 and would consider survival as a success this year. After the international break, the club will make the trip to face RC Lens.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

Metz were in the market for a centre-forward following the €16m sale of talismanic striker George Mikautadze to AFC Ajax. Since joining the Championship side last summer, Estupiñán has played 42 times for the Championship club, scoring 14 goals. The Colombian has played five games for the club this season, scoring in the Carabao Cup against Doncaster Rovers. Estupiñán will reunite at FC Metz with former Hull City winger Benjamin Tetteh. The Colombian will wear the #9 jersey with Les Grenats.

https://twitter.com/FCMetz/status/1697720900588544302

Metz were also in talks with Lokomotiv Moscow to sign French forward Wilson Idisor, but the deal has collapsed. AS Monaco’s Myron Boadu was also considered. FC Metz will host Stade de Reims for Ligue 1’s fourth gameweek on Sunday.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval

The publication is reporting that the Colombian international will join FC Metz on an initial loan deal, which will include an option to make the move permanent for €5m. Since joining Hull City last summer, Estupiñán has played 42 times for the Championship club, scoring 14 goals. He has played five games for the club this season, scoring once, however, he now looks set to depart the Championship club. 

Estupiñán won’t be the only attacking reinforcement to arrive at the club today. As they look to compensate for Georges Mikautadze’s (22) departure to Ajax, the club are also set to sign Southampton’s Paul Onuachu (29). Like Estupiñán, Onuachu will join the Ligue 1 club on loan. It was reported yesterday, that Metz were also sounding out a move for former AS Monaco forward Wilson Isidor (23), who currently plays for Lokomotiv Moscow. 

Metz are looking for offensive reinforcements after losing prolific centre-forward Georges Mikautadze (22) to Ajax earlier this week. The Georgian international was responsible for bringing the club back to Ligue 1 and scored two crucial goals this season before his departure to the Eredivisie. 

The club are looking to sign Hull City’s Óscar Estupiñán (26) with the Colombian international set for a medical today. However, they also look set to sign Southampton’s Onuachu on loan in the coming hours. The Nigerian international joined the Saints for €18m in January, however, he couldn’t save the club from relegation. He has failed to score in 12 appearances for the Championship club. 

Prior to his move to Southampton, Onuachu was prolific was KRC Genk, scoring 85 goals in 134 appearances for the Belgian club. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle

It has been reported by Le Parisien that former AS Monaco forward Isidor was nearing a move to FC Lorient. However, it then transpired that Les Merlus manager Régis Le Bris has pushed back on the signing of the French forward. Isidor could nonetheless make a return to Ligue 1 before the end of the transfer window. 

According to L’Équipe, Metz have begun to explore a deal to sign Isidor. Concurrently, the newly promoted Ligue 1 side are looking into a deal for Estupiñán. The French club are looking to sign the 26-year-old Colombian forward on loan with a purchase option. 

Since joining Hull City last summer, Estupiñán has played 42 times for the Championship club, scoring 14 goals. He has played five games for the club this season, scoring once. Metz aren’t the only side interested, however. According to L’Équipe, other French teams are also interested in the Colombian international. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle