OFFICIAL: Thiago Maia ditches PSG for Lille
Santos highly-rated defensive midfielder Thiago Maia has joined LOSC Lille in a 5-year deal for a fee of €14m as the Northern France club announced on their Twitter account.
Twitter: C’est signé ! @tmaia29 est un Dogue ! Le communiqué officiel https://t.co/0F79kX9uEp #LOSCUnlimited https://t.co/27ghh9sbIM (@losclive)
The Brazilian hot-prospect has been in the middle of a tug-of-war between Lille and Paris-Saint Germain since last season winter transfer window. There are even rumours earlier this summer that stated that Santos have accepted bids from Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan for Thiago Maia, but the 20-year-old defensive midfielder’s transfer move has stalled with the player himself unsure of his future at those clubs as he probably would not get sufficient game time to support his development.
Lille are also supposed to complete another deal with Santos for Caju, a young left-back. But the Ligue 1 outfit have not yet announced the deal.
Meanwhile, Ligue 1 side Lille has been one of the most ambitious projects in Europe this season. 14 players are Already brought in to bolster Marcelo Bielsa’s squad. They don’t look like they are going to stop the spending spree anytime soon though, with the likes of Paco Alcacer, Munir El-Haddadi, and Felipe Caicedo rumoured to be their next targets.