Lens released an official announcement on Thursday, confirming that Samson Baidoo has transferred from Red Bull Salzburg. The two parties have signed a five-year contract, which will be valid until June 30, 2030.

According to Foot Mercato editor-in-chief Sebastian Denis, the transfer fee is around 8 million euros.

The 21-year-old Samson Baidoo was born in Graz, Austria, and joined the Salzburg Red Bull youth training in 2018. He was then promoted to the first team and made his debut for the first team in the Austrian Cup on August 30, 2022.

To date, Baidoo has made 71 appearances for Red Bull Salzburg, scored 2 goals and provided 1 assist, and won 1 Austrian Super League championship with the team.

For Lens, Baidou's arrival will effectively fill the central defender vacancy left by Abdulkedir Husanov, Kevin Danso, Facundo Medina and Juma Ba. Lens sports director Jean-Louis Leka explained in a statement: "Samson is a player that our recruitment department has been paying attention to for a long time. He has always been our primary goal to strengthen the defense, and we quickly reached a consensus during the negotiation process."

“Samson has excellent physical fitness and defensive discipline far beyond his peers. He is also a natural leader and has served as the team captain many times. Although he is only 21 years old, he has played nearly 120 games, including 16 Champions League games and 1 national team appearance. We are very happy that he has joined us, which further confirms the attractiveness of Lens.”

"His talent, determination and maturity, developed in a great environment, are exactly what we wanted. Welcome home, Samson!"

According to the official announcement, Baird will wear the No. 6 jersey at Lens.