RC Strasbourg Alsace are speeding up the pace at the end of the winter transfer window. The Alsatian club announced the arrival of two new players late on Monday evening.

2017 assists leader returns

A familiar face for Ligue 1 Uber Eats fans, Aston Villa's French midfielder Morgan Sanson has joined on a six-month loan without an option to buy.

"We were looking for a player to replace Adrien Thomasson, who has left for Lens," explained Racing president Marc Keller in a statement released by the club. "We were attracted by Morgan Sanson, not only for his footballing qualities but also for his willingness to join us and make his contribution to this second half of the season, which is very important for us."

Meanwhile the man in question has personal reasons for wanting to hit the ground running in the east of France.

"I need to make up for what happened in the last few months," said Morgan Sanson. "I'm very determined and I want to get back to playing football."

Back to his roots

Sanson, 28, who is rarely used by the Villans, will therefore return to Ligue 1 Uber Eats, where he shone for both Montpellier HSC (2013-2017) and OM (2017-2021).

A product of the Le Mans academy, Ligue 1 Uber Eats's assists leader in 2017 is set to replace playmaker Adrien Thomasson, who transferred to RC Lens on 12 January. A Europa League finalist with OM in 2018, the former France youth international has racked 35 goals and 27 assists in 220 games played in France's top flight.
He joins teammate Frédéric Guilbert, also out of favour at Aston Villa, who signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Le Racing on 17 January.

Eduard Sobol, another international at RCSA

Following on from Sanson, 27-year-old Ukrainian international defender Eduard Sobol has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with RCSA.

"Since the injury of Thomas Delaine, the club has been concentrating on the search for a left-back and we are very happy to finalise the arrival of Eduard Sobol," said Marc Keller. "He's a very good player who already has experience at the top level."

"It is a great progression in my football career and in my life as a man, I am coming to an important club and an historic city," said the Ukrainian player. "I can't wait to play my first match with Racing and to experience the atmosphere of the Meinau".

A three-time Belgian champion with FC Brugge and a regular in the Champions League, Eduard Sobol was also Ukrainian champion with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2014.

New striker for Toulouse

Toulouse FC are still in the midst of a busy season, with a fourth arrival already. After Warren Kamanzi, Gabriel Suazo and Vincent Sierro, Dutch-Bosnian Said Hamulic signed for Toulouse on Tuesday.

The athletic 22-year-old striker (1.88m) arrives from Stal Mielec, with whom he was previously joint-top scorer in the Polish league (nine goals in 17 games). The duration of the contract was not specified by TéFéCé.

"I am very happy to come to Toulouse. It is a big challenge for me, but I like challenges like this. I can't wait to get to know my new teammates and the staff, and to start winning with them. I've seen a lot of TéFéCé's games this season, the team plays good football and that's why I wanted to sign here", the player revealed on his new club's website.

>> TRANSFERS: All the winter moves