(Football news) According to reports, Fiorentina have reached an agreement with Lille for the transfer of Jonathan Ikoné with a baseline fee of €21m. The move will also see his former club Paris Saint-Germain receive between 45% and 50% of the fee as part of the sell-on clause in his 2018 transfer, as a result the league leaders will gain around €10m from this move. The 23-year-old Ligue 1 winner, who was under contract with LOSC until 2023, will now move to Italy in January, although the full details are still to be ironed out. Leipzig had also registered some interest in the number 10.
Jonathan Ikone was one of the key members in last year's title winning run for Lille, but this season the French international has often been a substitute this season, seeing his playing team reduced under Jocelyn Gourvennec and only appearing in 16 league matches. The 23 year old has made 143 appearances for Lille scoring 16 goals and assisting 25. The versatile attacker has established himself as one of Ligue 1’s most exciting talents since swapping his boyhood club Paris Saint-Germain for Lille back in the summer of 2018. Last season, the young Frenchman played a vital role to claim their first Ligue 1 title in 10 years for Lille, scoring four goals and providing five assists in 37 top-flight appearances.
Ikone is a player who doesn’t score many goals but provides an attacking threat from the right or even from the center, the four-cap France international has averaged 1.2 shots per league game in 2021/22, one key pass and 0.8 dribbles, placing him in the top-five amongst his teammates. Fiorentina have got themselves one of the most promising young French players in the squad and maybe the right move especially with Vlahovic still in the club. These can form a formidable duo and once Vlahovic leaves the club he might have the potential to replace him also.
