Roux joins Lille from Brest

Lille have signed Brest striker Nolan Roux for eight million euros.

The striker will put pen to paper on a four-and-a-half-year contract with the French champions, subject to passing a medical.

Brest had managed to hold on to the player last season, despite interest from Schalke and Liverpool, but have now been forced to deal after Lille met the player’s transfer release fee.

“I am at peace with my conscience,” Brest president Michel Guyot told the club website.

“I was obviously disrupted last summer, just like the player.”

“I wondered if I was not wrong to hold up his career. It happened to me as an employee when I wanted to quit and my boss did not let me go.”

“So I want to thank Nolan. He played a major role in our promotion to the league. We wish him well, but we will put a little clause to prevent him from playing against us in April.”

Roux, who was capped twice by the French Under-21s in 2010, has scored 21 goals in 66 appearances for Brest.