Hibs transfer news: Euro rivals haggling over valuation of Easter Road attacker as star winger leaves Legia
David Gray’s men must overturn 2-1 UEFA Conference League play-off deficit in Warsaw
UEFA Conference League rivals Legia Warsaw will NOT spend big money to tempt Hibs into selling Elie Youan, according to sources in Poland. Legia, in the market for a creative threat after it emerged that Japanese international winger Ryoya Morishita is on his way to Blackburn Rovers in a 2 million Euro move, have been linked with a move for Youan.
According to sources in Poland, Legia – who welcome David Gray’s team to the Polish capital for the second leg of their play-off on Thursday night – aren’t willing to break the seven-figure barrier in order to land Youan, who has suffered injury set-backs and struggled to hold down regular game time under Gray. With Kieron Bowie, Martin Boyle and Thibault Klidje all ahead of him in the pecking order and the first-choice 3-5-2 formation leaving little room for out-and-out wingers, the 26-year-old has made just one start this season, in the 2-2 home draw with Kilmarnock, when he scored his team’s second goal.
French attacker has been linked with big-money moves
Youan, who has regularly been linked with big-money moves away from Easter Road in recent seasons, signed a three-year deal in 2023 after a successful loan spell led to a permanent move from St Gallen. Entering the closing months of his contract, he’s still been a more-than-useful impact player this year, setting up Rocky Bushiri’s dramatic injury-time equaliser as Hibs eventually lost out to Midtjylland in the Europe League.
Hibs trail 2-1 from the first leg of their clash with Legia, who reached the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals last season. Despite having the weekend off after postponing their Ekstraklasa fixture, Legia have been far from quiet, as transfer business continues to dominate the agenda in Warsaw.
They’ve already been linked with another replacement for Morishita, who contributed 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions last summer. The 28-year-old is expected to join Blackburn within the coming days. Reports in Poland say 26-year-old Kosovan winger Ermal Krasniqi, from Sparta Prague, is on his way in, with the transfer being described as “in its final stages.”
In-demand central defender Jan Ziolkowski, meanwhile, is still expected to complete a 9 million Euro move to AS Roma in Italy. But Legia hope to hold onto the 22-year-old until after Thursday’s game, with qualification for the league phases of UEFA’s third-tier club competition worth an estimated minimum of around £5 million to competing clubs.