Town are reported to have agreed an €11.5 million fee for Rennes midfielder Azor Matusiwa with the Blues close to making the Dutchman their first outfield signing of the summer.

Earlier, reports in France indicated that Matusiwa had been pulled out of the squad playing a friendly with Saint-Brieuc this morning as negotiations with the Blues were advanced.

According to L’Equipe, a fee of €11.5 million (£9.9 million) plus add-ons has been agreed between the clubs.

Rennes manager Habib Beye, who previously had told the Hilversum-born schemer he was unable to guarantee him playing time, confirmed after his side's friendly that “Matusiwa is on his way out”.

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, 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.

Photo: Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Fat_Boy_Tim added 18:53 - Jul 10 @ Broadbent - what did you mean by ‘non African’?
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wischip added 19:01 - Jul 10 Decent.
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Woodbridgian added 19:17 - Jul 10 TWTD’S ADMIN you really should block some of the idiotic budgie comments on here. Bluebulls**t 291 the latest example. Surprised they can type with 6 fingers
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inghamspur added 19:34 - Jul 10 Never heard of him so need to trust the scouting.Need to add to the strike force as we only have Hirst and he's injury prone.
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darkhorse28 added 19:42 - Jul 10 Great to see us doing business abroad, hopefully with that pedigree he’s a technical player, and someone with much needed top level experience. If he’s good, bad or indifferent, if he was in the EFL he would cost twice as much. Would still love Flynn back, can’t wait to see this guy doing his best Kante impression.
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Lion added 10:06 - Jul 11 blues 1, all fair comments, someone else has said about the pivot role and that is also a fair point, Morsy ( who i love so yes i am totally biased ) is brilliant at the pivot role, he has a low centre of balance and is as good at receiving the ball in tight spaces and turning as anyone i have ever seen, i take your points re makele, kante, davids etc who were all CDM's shielding the back 4 and I also think it (size ) doesn't matter in the championship, it is more about ability then size and strength and a midfield pairing of Morsy and Luongo was completely good enough in 23/24. I am just pointing out we are already not a big side, we have lost Axel and Cam Burgess who were two of our bigger players. The club, privately, including MA and Kieran ( they are not going to announce it ) will be targeting an instant return to the prem and i am just saying the prem has changed, massively. They are all athletes first and ballers second. Even Sam, who is as 'physical' a player as you can get in modern football was swatted aside at times last year. MA said club noticed the same and we would change profile of player we are targeting and than we are apparently looking to sign a 5 ft 8 midfielder, that is what i was slightly surprised at, anyway, in MA and Kieran we trust, up the farkin towan!

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Lion added 10:18 - Jul 11 Also Blues 1, its a juxtaposition isn't it, we all want to be back in the prem because thats where you need to be to grow as a club, but i think a lot of our fans would admit, in many ways, it is crap compared to the championship. The majority of the players are 6ft plus ex academy athletes who all do the same thing in the given situations, there are no or very few mavericks anymore, because if they do not pass as per the team pattern for instance when 30 yards from goal they are worried about being subbed or dropped, Didzy was right when he said that. It is not as exciting, it is not the spectacle of the championship, It is boring! Also the season is completely fragmented, only 38 games as opposed to 46 and you can never get a head of steam up as there are so many breaks in the season. So i am just going to enjoy this season, even if we have a team of midgets ;0) and i do also want to desperately get back to the prem at first time of asking.

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BurleysGloryDays added 10:50 - Jul 11 Luongo successor. Quick recoveries and varied vision/distribution
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shakytown added 08:15 - Jul 12 Usual rubbish from the blue budgie butt boys.
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