Samuel Kalu expected to leave Bordeaux imminently after he was left out of training session

SUPER Eagles winger Samuel Kalu is likely to leave French club Bordeaux over the next few days after he was left out of the team’s most recent training session indicating that a loan deal will be struck before the end of the January transfer window.

Kalu, 22, joined Bordeaux from Belgian side Gent in August 2018 for €8m and got off to a flying start but has gone off the boil this season. Bordeaux manager Paulo Sousa has not used Kalu for the team’s last two games against Pau in the Cup and Nantes in the league, indicating that he is now considered surplus to requirements, along with the likes of Aurélien Tchouaméni and Raoul Bellanova.

Several teams are believed to have made enquiries about Kalu, a creative winger, with Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin, coached by Jurgen Klinsman said to be the favourites to sign him. Several other teams in Germany, Spain and Turkey are said to be interested on Kalu, who has three and a half years remaining on his Bordeaux contract, so it is most likely that he will leave on a loan deal for now.

So far this season, Kalu has only managed just four starts as he has fallen down the Bordeaux pecking order, scoring just one goal in 16 appearances altogether. With just a few days left until the January transfer window closes, Kalu is expected to join Hertha Berlin any moment from now as coach Klinsman sees him as the ideal player to strengthen his squad.

With former Chelsea and Ivory Coast winger Salomon Kalou and Bosnia’s Vedad Ibisevic expected to leave at the end of the season, Kalu is seen as the perfect candidates to replace them. However, Spanish side, Real Betis are also said to be interested in taking the 22-year-old to Spain.