Town are reported to be in advanced negotiations to sign Dutch midfielder Azor Matusiwa from Ligue 1 Rennes.

According to Le Parisien, Matusiwa was left out of a friendly against Saint-Brieuc this morning with discussions regarding a move to the Blues close to being finalised.

The 27-year-old defensive midfielder joined Rennes from Reims in January 2024 for €16 million (£13.8 million) having started his career at Ajax, after joining the Amsterdam club as a schoolboy from Almere City, before spells with De Graafschap (loan) and Groningen prior to moving to France and Reims in 2021.

Matusiwa, who is contracted to his current club until 2028, was born in Hilversum and played international football for the Netherlands at U16 and U21 levels but also qualifies for play for Angola.

The 5ft 8in tall midfielder is the second France-based player reported to be closing in on a move to the Blues over the last 24 hours with Reims defender Cédric Kipré having been reported to be nearing a loan move to Town yesterday.

Elsewhere, former Blues striker David McGoldrick, 37, has joined League One Barnsley having left hometown side Notts County at the end of last season.

The former Republic of Ireland international was interesting a number of clubs, the MK Dons, Chesterfield and Bradford among them.

Photo: Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

BlueOura added 13:08 - Jul 10 Sounds good but is he winger or a defensive midfielder? Not sure there are too many defensive wingers about these days...
3

blues1 added 13:10 - Jul 10 Yer, the headline says one thing, the story another. Seems more likely to be a defensive midfielder as dont think we need a winger.
2

Rimsy added 13:11 - Jul 10 Oooh. Dutch midfielder, sounds promising. I don't know anything about him though.
0

JeffN added 13:12 - Jul 10 New profile of player we are now looking at- “Defensive holding wingers” and “Attacking Central Defenders”
3

JonDouglas4Ballondor added 13:12 - Jul 10 Glad we are finally exploring the european markets!
5

Dug added 13:16 - Jul 10 No comment….
-2

chorltonskylineblue added 13:16 - Jul 10 Whose our new French scout? Is it Manu Thetis or Jimmy Juan? Or is Scowy dropping us tips from his Crystal Palace work. It's not done them any harm
0

TimmyH added 13:19 - Jul 10 Why mention 'defensive winger' -it says he's a defensive midfielder, but can't comment on him as I have no knowledge. That area we certainly need strengthening in though.
1

PhilTWTD added 13:20 - Jul 10 Apologies, wrote winger in the headline for some reason when I meant to type midfielder.
8

alex2kj added 13:24 - Jul 10 Les Bleus!
1

itfcskayman added 13:25 - Jul 10 Played plenty of games in the French top flight, signed for good money. I’d be surprised if anyone knew anything about him but this is what we’ve been wanting.
3

blues1 added 13:36 - Jul 10 Been other times we've signed a player no1 has heard of and they've been good players. No reason this guy shouldnt be another. Be one of the 2 midfielders we need.
1

cressi added 13:36 - Jul 10 Said before the Premiership kicked off last season the French league was the one to explore so many athletic French/African players.
2

runningout added 13:37 - Jul 10 we should have cheeky bid for Luka Sucic at Real Sociedad
0

Mariner1974 added 13:39 - Jul 10 Leave poor Phil alone! He's entitled to a typo or two every once in a while. So our scouting operation is in full flow. They now have cars and access to the channel tunnel (that or they are getting a lift in the MSC cargo hold at Felixstowe). The search for physicality has begun...
3

JewellintheTown added 13:41 - Jul 10 Dutch midfielder? We did pretty well last time we had one of those.
3

kuyski added 13:42 - Jul 10 According to reports, Matusiva is the third most intercepted player in Ligue 1 this season (62 times) and he is also the player with the highest passing success rate in Ligue 1 this season.He is known as the little Kante of the Netherlands. Looking good
2

senduntd added 13:45 - Jul 10 All of our Dutch imports have been great successes right back to Bobby Robsons.
1

Dissboyitfc added 13:47 - Jul 10 Looks decent from the showreel, looks to be the type of midfielder we had hoped Kelvin Phillips would be! Will be like a bus, 2 at once when you’ve been waiting!
1

kuyski added 13:48 - Jul 10 The reports is come from 2022-2023，For reference only.
0

Gforce added 14:00 - Jul 10 No nothing about him, but I'll trust Keirans judgement. Great to see we are finally casting our net further afield.
0

Tractorcookie added 14:02 - Jul 10 It would be nice to get a midfielder in soon-ish and he looks like he would be a useful addition and one to take over from Morsy when he (sadly inevitably) slows down or gets injured.
0

RIPbobby added 14:05 - Jul 10 I heard he was a passive sniper. Lol
0

naa added 14:08 - Jul 10 JewellintheTown : wasn't Marco Holster Dutch? Or is he the one you meant? ;-)
0

ArnieM added 15:18 - Jul 10 Excellent news. Hopefully it'll put to bed this absurd notion of Downes returning
1

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