L’Équipe report that Ligue 1 strugglers RC Strasbourg are interested in acquiring 21-year-old Franco-Moroccan midfielder Neil El Aynaoui.
ASNL are in financial trouble owing to mismanagement on the part of their owners, Pacific Media Group and were relegated from Ligue 2 to National 1 (French 3rd division) last season. They are currently under threat of being relegated to the 4th tier, sitting just 2 points above the relegation places with 4 matches to go.
El Aynaoui will leave Nancy this summer regardless of the club’s eventual league status, with 12 months remaining on his current contract and no desire to sign an extension. ASNL feel that they must sell in order to recoup a transfer fee for a player who has been with them since 2021, playing in 55 matches and scoring 5 goals as well as providing 3 assists.
El Aynaoui’s talks with Strasbourg have been ongoing for several months, having attended one of the Ligue 1 club’s games in January at their Meinau stadium and having met with RCSA’s President Marc Keller.
The geographical proximity to his family that a move to Strasbourg could afford the player is also a key factor in El Aynaoui’s interest in making the move – he was born in Nancy.
James Thorpe | GFFN
