After Benjamin Mendy, a new 2017 French champion will join the Breton club. French midfielder Tiémoué Bakayoko, released by Chelsea, has signed a two-year contract with FC Lorient, the Breton Ligue 1 club announced on Thursday. Trained at Stade Rennes, the 29-year-old hatched in Monaco, where he was one of the important men in the title of French champion for Monegasques in 2017, winning his only selection for the France team.

Having left for Chelsea in 2017, he never managed to impose himself there, multiplying loans to different clubs (AC Milan twice, Naples, Monaco). Les Merlus are betting on a player who lacks playing time, Bakayoko having only played around forty minutes in three matches over the whole of his last season at AC Milan.