Renato Sanches is moving to Paris. The Portuguese midfielder has signed with Paris Saint-Germain until 2027, the French champions announced on Thursday. The 24-year-old, who had been playing for LOSC since 2019, becomes the Parisians' fourth summer recruit after Portuguese midfielder Vitinha (ex-Porto), 20-year-old French striker Hugo Ekitike (ex-Reims) and French defender Nordi Mukiele (ex-RB Leipzig).

Capable of playing in front of the defence - or as a right winger with a box-to-box profile - and endowed with excellent vision and passing ability, Sanches exploded onto the scene at Benfica, his boyhood club, in 2015-16. He won Euro 2016 with Portugal at just 18 years of age, before being transferred to Bayern Munich. He left Bavaria in 2019 to re-launch himself at Lille, where he was crowned French champion under Christophe Galtier - his new coach in Paris!

"He is a player who has qualities that others don't have," said Galtier in a press conference on Thursday. "He's very explosive, very hard-hitting in terms of impact. We seized this opportunity. He will have to integrate because he played very little in the pre-season - he was waiting for his transfer. He will be late compared to his teammates. He has the ability to break down lines in midfield and to make up for it defensively."

LOSC strengthen at the back

A few minutes after the departure of Renato Sanches, LOSC announced the arrival of a reinforcement in defence. Brazilian left-back Ismaily has signed a one-year contract plus an option year with the northern club. The 32-year-old has been with Shakhtar Donetsk since 2013 and was a regular starter in a team with that won the Ukrainian championship six times and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League. Furthermore, at the Russian club, he played under current LOSC boss Paulo Fonseca.

He arrived free of contract and will compete with Sweden's Gabriel Gudmundsson.

"We have identified the need to strengthen the full-back positions in terms of numbers and quality and we had targeted Ismaily as our priority at left-back a long time ago. I would also like to thank the Chakhtar management for agreeing to release Ismaily," president Olivier Létang told the club's website.

Raveloson to Auxerre

Promoted to Ligue 1 Uber Eats, Jean-Marc Furlan's AJ Auxerre are also continuing to add to their squad. Madagascar international midfielder Rayan Raveloson (Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS) has signed a three-year contract with AJ Auxerre, plus a year's option. The 25-year-old came up at Tours (2014-2018) before playing at Troyes between 2018 and 2021. Playing for a total of six years in Ligue 2 BKT, he was notably involved in Troyes' rise to Ligue 1 Uber Eats (2020). With Los Angeles, where Raveloson was contracted from May 2021, he played 44 Major League Soccer games for eight goals (2 assists). He also has 20 caps for the Madagascar national team (2 goals).

>> TRANSFERS: All the summer moves

(Credit: PSG)