Ligue 1 strugglers Caen have concretely positioned themselves to sign 21-year-old defensive midfielder Alfa Semedo on loan from Benfica, with the Portuguese side open to such a deal, until the end of the season, according to L’Équipe.
Semedo, who joined Benfica last summer for €2m from Moreirense, has played 3 times in the Champions’ League this season. Caen currently lead the race for the youngster, despite competition from Club Brugge and Rayo Vallecano.
In the meantime, Caen boss Fabien Mercadal is also looking to bolster his attacking options, and remains keen on 27-year-old winger Nicolas Benezet, despite having an approach knocked back by Guingamp for the Frenchman earlier this window because they did not want to strengthen a direct relegation rival. In Ligue 2, Auxerre and Lens are also after the player.
If Guingamp change their mind, the bottom-placed French 1st division club will turn their attention to winger Paul-Georges Ntep, who is also being tracked closely by Caen.
The newspaper claim that it is likely that Ntep will be at one of these two Ligue 1 clubs when the window shuts on Thursday.