Last season’s surprise Lens swooped on some other very interesting names after the sale. Who are the talented Diouf and Cortés?

After an excellent second place finish in the last Ligue 1 season, Lens management logically did not keep their biggest stars and their best striker Lois Openda will be a big loss. On the other hand, a number of new players have arrived, especially the pair of talents Andy Diouf and Óscar Cortés. The scouts are doing an excellent job at this French club, so let’s introduce this very promising pair.

Lens finished 7th immediately after promotion to the top French competition in the 2020/21 season, and finished the season the same way a year later, gaining 5 points and only 4 points behind the cup standings.

Last season, however, Lens were already the only club that managed to keep up with PSG, falling just one point behind the Parisian outfit. It must be added, however, that the dominant French team of recent years has already taken the end of the season, as it happens, a little more lukewarmly due to the large lead.

However, this does not detract from the excellent work of coach Franck Hais and his team, who have so far made €72 million in transfers, with the most money made from the departure of striker Openda to RB Leipzig – €43 million.

But on the other hand, the team has added two very interesting talents who will try out the Champions League in the upcoming new season. These talents include Diouf and Cortés.

Andy Diouf

So far, the midfielder who has cost Lens the most is Diouf, who is 20 years old and returns to France after a year in Basel, Switzerland, who sold him for 14 million euros after buying him out for 5.5 million euros after a one-year loan spell.

the 187cm tall left-back played 57 games last season during which he notched 3 goals and 7 assists. The talented Frenchman was behind Basel’s great run in the Conference League, which reached the semi-finals. Antonín Barák’s goal in the last moments of the overtime period kept them in it.

Another big advantage of Diouf is that he can play almost anywhere in the midfield – DM, CM and AM. Technically he is very good and so is he defensively. It’s no wonder he’s been scouted by Liverpool as well as a few other European giants.

Óscar Cortés

The skilful 19-year-old winger has so far only played for Colombian team Millonarios, who have shelled out €4.5 million for their gem.

The talented player, who many refer to as a “dribbling machine”, hasn’t played much, but when he does play, he is very productive. In the last 19 games (only 1,350 minutes played) he has scored 6 goals and 3 assists.

His compatriot Deiver Machado was great on the left side last season, so Cortés could fly on the other side. He was used on both sides in his now former engagement. But it will also depend on how he stands up to the competition from other players.

Source: Transfermarkt, Lens, Ligue 1