This article originally said Netherlands rather than Belgium. If you knew how hungover I was when I wrote it, you’d understand.
Arsenal youngster, Zech Medley, could be on his way from Kilmarnock to join KV Oostende in the Belgium as Fashion Sakala gets set to head the other way to join Rangers in the SPL.
KV Oostende look set to lose their 24-year-old centre forward Fashion Sakala to Rangers in Scotland this summer, prompting a team rebuild and the Belgian side have identified Arsenal youngster, Zech Medley as a player they should target this summer.
His ‘youthful profile’ fits with what they are trying to build at the club.
Fashion Sakala
A deal is said to be ‘almost complete’ to bring Fashion Sakala to Rangers from Oostende on a four-year deal. The 24-year-old front man, valued at £2.25m, has 13 goals and 4 assists this season in 30 appearances for the side he joined in 2018 from Spartak 2 Moscow in Russia’s second tier.
He will reportedly sign on a free transfer when his contract expires in the summer and the press in Belgium claim Rangers have confirmed negotiations but ‘not yet the agreement’.
Steven Gerrard apparently saw off interest from an unnamed English side and Lille to land the forward for the Scottish champions.
Zech Medley
Centreback, Zech Medley is out of contract at Arsenal in the summer although the club have an option to extend his contract by another year and, until this report, all signs seemed to point to them doing exactly that.
Medley joined Kilmarnock on loan at the end of January after Arsenal recalled him from Gillingham. Arsenal were reportedly keen to have him play at a higher level and it is a chance Medley seems to have seized.
“I thought Zech Medley did well on his full debut,” Kilmarnock caretaker manager, James, Fowler said in February. “He has only come in and trained for a few days, but he showed he is a decent player. He will benefit from that 90 minutes.”
The Scottish Sun gave Medley a rating of 7 for his debut, the highest on the Kilmarnock team, adding that he “looks a good addition and had a decent debut”.
The 20-year-old signed for Arsenal from Chelsea in 2016 on a free transfer and has made 28 appearances this season, scoring one goal.
Did you know
In 2017, Oostende striker, Landry ‘Nany’ Dimata, reportedly snubbed both Arsenal and West Ham in favour of a move to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
He signed for the Germans in a deal that cost £10.35m but was sent to Anderlecht the next year on loan. A season in Belgium saw him sold permanently to Anderlecht when his loan ended, with Wolfsburg only getting half what they’d paid for him two years earlier. Dimate made just 24 appearances for Wolfsburg, failing to score a single goal and grabbing only one assist.
18 months later Dimata was on the move again after 38 appearances in Belgium, 15 goals and six assists. It was another loan, this time heading to Spain in February 2021 to join Espanyol.
So far this season, he has two goals and two assists in 14 Jupiler Pro games and three with Espanyol in LaLiga2.