(Reuters) – RB Leipzig have signed Belgium striker Lois Openda from Ligue 1 RC Lens on a five-year contract, the Bundesliga club said on Friday.
The fee was not disclosed, but Germany’s Bild newspaper reported it was 43 million euros ($48.29 million) with a further six million in add-ons, surpassing the 25 million euros Leipzig paid Hoffenheim for defender David Raum last season.
“We stayed within our planned framework with the transfer fee, and if success-oriented bonuses occur on top of that, it means above all that we were able to celebrate the sporting successes together with the player,” Leipzig’s sports director Max Eberl said.
Openda, 23, scored 21 goals in 38 league appearances for Lens last season, leading them to a second-placed finish. He has nine caps for Belgium, scoring twice.
Leipzig sold last season’s top scorer Christopher Nkunku to Premier League Chelsea in June.
They finished third in the Bundesliga to earn a place in the Champions League group stage.
($1 = 0.8904 euros)
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
