Midfielder Pape Cheikh Joins Celta Vigo on Loan from Lyon

Pape Cheikh of Lyon (on the right) in 2018. Photo by Robbie Stephenson/JMP/Shutterstock (9887087v)

Olympique Lyon has decided to send out one of its youngest players on loan to gain experience at the club from which he was signed.

Celta Vigo, the La Liga outfit with which Cheikh was formed as a youth player and with which he made his professional debut, will acquire the 21-year-old midfielder on loan for the 2019-20 season. The Galician team will also have a $10 million purchase option if they want to retain the midfielder on a permanent deal after the season is over.

Cheikh was considered one of the top young prospects in European soccer in the summer of 2017 when he made the move from Celta to Lyon. The French outfit beat out other European giants such as Tottenham Hotspur for the Senegal-born player’s services.

Celta had been looking to add another player to its midfield going into the season, as they look to improve on a disappointing 2018-19 campaign that saw them finish in 17th in La Liga. Cheikh’s arrival means that Celta has signed three club youth products (Cheikh, Denis Suárez, and Santi Mina) in what has been an exciting summer transfer window for them.

Cheikh will now have the opportunity to grow and develop in Vigo, a place where he developed into one of the hottest young midfielders in the game.

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