French-Burkinabe centre-back Ismaëlo Ganiou extended his contract with his formative club, RC Lens, for an additional two years, rejecting several significant offers from abroad after weeks of consideration. AC Milan had made the 21-year-old defender, who has been capped twice for France U21, a priority, while Ruben Amorim personally called to present a project for the player's development. Bayer Leverkusen was also interested, and Crystal Palace and Pierre Sage made a more recent attempt to sign the player who joined Lens in July 2025.
Ganiou was persuaded to stay by a substantial salary increase from Lens, a sporting project that allows him to continue his progress, and the opportunity to play in the Champions League. It was reported that the interested clubs were able to meet Lens's valuation, estimated at 50 million euros. His current Transfermarkt market value is €20.00m. Reports in June 2026 indicated an asking price of approximately €35-40 million, while discussions in May 2026 involving PSG were reportedly based on a value of almost €40 million.
