Mercato: Strasbourg welcomes the most expensive recruit in its history, Abakar Sylla

Strasbourg pulls out the checkbook. Abakar Sylla signs for five years with the RCSA this Saturday. A transfer estimated at 20 M€ for this young (20 years old) Ivorian international defender (5 caps), who arrives from Bruges. It is the biggest transfer in the history of Strasbourg, far ahead of the 10 M€ spent on Habib Diallo in 2020. "This important transfer testifies to the desire we have to make the club progress even further", underlines President Keller , referring to an “excellent element” who had been “followed for two years” by Racing. "His arrival is part of our tradition of investing in talented young players with high potential," added the Alsatian leader.

Sylla is described as a "fast and athletic central defender (1.88 meters), natural leader despite his young age, left-handed with a strong temperament, serene in the recovery and strong in duels". “I feel both great happiness and great emotion, said the main interested party. It's also a big challenge for me and an important step in my career and in my life. I am young, I still have a lot to learn and I will work hard to be able to progress and reach the heights. Racing has a great project. It's an ambitious club, well run and coached by a football legend (Vieira)”, ignites Sylla, who will join the group in Austria.