TRANSFER WRAP: Ekitike to PSG, Mbemba to OM | OneFootball

The weekend saw some interesting moves in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats transfer market, with champions PSG signing Reims' French prodigy Hugo Ekitike while arch-rivals OM snared the services of Congolese stopper Chancel Mbemba from Porto. All the big weekend moves...

Ligue 1 Uber Eats clubs have been active over the past few days! Paris Saint-Germain, the reigning champions, made the most of the weekend to sign their third recruit of the season. Hugo Ekitike, the highly sought-after young striker from Stade de Reims, is staying in our league, as he is on loan to the capital club for one season (with an option to buy). Stade de Reims hailed its player as a "pure product of the Reims Academy". Ekitike joins Paris Saint-Germain after "a rich season that featured 11 goals [in all competitions] but also some wonderful experiences shared with the Reims fans," added the club. Ekitike is PSG's third summer signing, after Portuguese midfielder Vitinha, also a player of the future for the capital club at 22, and Nuno Mendes, whose loan deal was made permanent.

France U20 international Ekitike, who was briefly called up to the U21 squad but is yet to earn his first cap in that category, could have had a n even more productive season with Reims had injury not kept him out of action from the end of February to the beginning of May.

Mbemba to shore up OM's defence Further south, Olympique de Marseille have also been in action, bringing in central defender Chancel Mbemba. The 27-year-old Congolese international (64 caps), has signed for three seasons on a free transfer, Marseille announced on Friday evening. The move follows the signing of 28-year-old French defender Samuel Gigot from Spartak Moscow and 19-year-old Isaak Toure from AC Le Havre. Born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mbemba moved to Europe at the age of 17 to Belgian club Anderlecht. Then, after a spell in England with Newcastle, he moved to Portugal, playing for FC Porto. He has played more than 270 games for three clubs, including 26 in the Champions League and ten in the Europa League.

Embolo bolsters Monaco AS Monaco have not been left out of the action, with the arrival of a new heavyweight in attack to follow the arrival of Japanese winger Takumi Minamino. Breel Embolo (25) has signed for the next four seasons with the pincipality club. The Swiss international (56 caps, nine goals), born in Yaoundé (Cameroon), started his professional career at the age of 17 in Switzerland, with FC Basel (2014-2016). He then moved to Germany, first to Schalke 04 (2016-2019) and then to Borussia Monchengladbach for three seasons, where he played 88 Bundesliga games. Capable of playing in all attacking positions, Embolo has a wealth of international experience: with the Swiss national team, he played at Euro 2016 in France, before going on to play at the 2018 World Cup and the Euro last summer. "His profile brings an additional asset among our attacking options and adds more depth to the team in order to tackle the busy schedule ahead of us," sporting director Paul Mitchell explained on Monaco's website. "At 25, Breel has won titles and knows the demands of the Champions League. In addition, his status as an international player and his participation in major tournaments give him experience that will certainly be valuable to us."

Costil to Auxerre, Clermont bag Bayo's replacement AJ Auxerre are back in Ligue 1 Uber Eats after a ten-year absence and have lured an experienced keeper to bolster their ranks for the challenge ahead. After five years with Girondins de Bordeaux, Benoît Costil has signed a one-season contract with AJA. The 35-year-old goalkeeper had reached the end of his contract with the Girondins, where he had played since 2017, on 30 June. In total, he has played an impressive 388 games in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. As for Clermont Foot 63, they took advantage of last weekend to sign the replacement for attacking lynchpin Mohamed Bayo, who was transferred to LOSC. Serbian forward Komnen Andric, formerly of Dinamo Zagreb, has signed a three-year contract, the French club announced on Friday. A fourth year is also optional, which would take the deal to 2026. Andric, 27, really took off in the Croatian league from 2018 with Inter Zapresic, where he was on loan from Belenenses (48 games, 21 goals) and then to Dinamo Zagreb (2019-2022) after a season on loan at Ufa (2020-21, Russia). At Dinamo, with whom he was twice champion (2019 and 2022), he scored 12 goals in 41 games. Finally, OGC Nice announced their second recruit of the summer on Sunday, following on from the definitive transfer of 'keeper Marcin Bulka from PSG. Rares Ilie, a young Romanian prospect aged 19, arrives from Dinamo Bucharest, where he scored nine goals and made 12 assists in 60 appearances. Le Gym did not specify the length of his contract. >> TRANSFERS: All the summer moves (Photo credit: PSG)