Transfer to his country of birth
© Imago
Armel Bella-Kotchap was also traded at Hamburger SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach, but the central defender is apparently drawn to France’s first division. According to “L’équipe”, the 23-year-old from FC Southampton is about to switch to FC Nantes. The clubs are said to have agreed.
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We are talking about a loan including a purchase option of 9 million euros, which corresponds to the current market value of the two -time German international. Bella-Kotchap would be in his country of birth for the first time-he was born in Paris. Ligue 1 would also be the third European top league, in Derbella-Kotchap after the Bundesliga and the Premier League, from which he had relegated with the Saints last season.
However, he hardly played a role. It was only used in four games for only 329 minutes, in total there are only 31 games since his arrival 2022 for EUR 12 million from VfL Bochum, which is still a record sale of the Ruhrpott club. In the meantime, he was also awarded to PSV Eindhoven, where a shoulder injury put him out of action for longer. He last played more than 20 games in a season in 2022/23.
In Nantes, Bella-Kotchap is to strengthen the central defense, which was decimated this summer with the exits by Nathan Zézé, Nicolas Pallois and Jean-Charles Castelletto. In return, two new ones have come so far: Chidozie Awaziem and Uros Radakovic. With a market value of 9 million euros, Bella-Kotchap would be by far the most valuable central defender in the squad.