Olivier Létang takes transfer sales past €500m

Olivier Létang has taken his career transfer-sales total beyond €500 million after Lille completed Ayyoub Bouaddi’s move to Manchester City. The deal strengthens the LOSC president’s standing as one of the most effective sellers in French football.

Bouaddi, aged 18, joins City in a package worth €100 million including bonuses. The transfer is the highest-valued sale to a foreign club in Ligue 1 history and the biggest outgoing deal ever completed by Lille.

Létang has been involved in 17 transfers worth more than €10 million since becoming a senior football executive at Rennes in 2017 and later taking charge at Lille in 2020. Those deals have generated €583.32 million in total.

Lille accounts for much of that figure. The club previously sold Leny Yoro to Manchester United for €62 million, Lucas Chevalier to Paris Saint-Germain for €40 million, Amadou Onana to Everton for €39.87 million, Sven Botman to Newcastle for €37 million, Bafodé Diakité to Bournemouth for €35 million and Carlos Baleba to Brighton for €27 million. Bouaddi’s nine-figure transfer now stands at the top of Lille’s sales record.