Doncaster Rovers poised to announce signing of '˜free spirit' Issam Ben Khemis

'˜Free spirit' Issam Ben Khemis will give Doncaster Rovers something different in midfield, says Darren Ferguson.
Issam Ben KhemisIssam Ben Khemis
Issam Ben Khemis

The 21-year-old is poised to become Rovers’ fifth new signing of the summer after undergoing a medical and negotiating terms this week.

He was released by French side FC Lorient at the end of last season after making four senior appearances, including three in Ligue Un.

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“He’s a real bonus for us,” Ferguson told the Star earlier this week.

“He came over from someone I know in France. I think he’s done very well. He gives us that left foot and something a bit different from what we’ve got in the middle of the park.

“I think he’s been surprised at how technical we want to play and that really suits him. He’s a bit of a free spirit, he loves playing football. He just goes and plays.

“He loves asking questions even though his English isn’t great and our French isn’t. We find a solution to it.

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“He always wants to improve, you can see that in the short time he’s been with us. The lads really like him. He’s a real energetic lad and I’ll be delighted if we can get that done.

“He is something different to what we’ve got,” he added.

“He gives us balance and he gives the opportunity if we were to play three centre halves, Danny Andrew could play left centre half and Tommy Rowe as wing back. Tommy likes playing more in the middle but he can do a job there.

“Issam can play at number ten so he does give us plenty of options. He covers the ground really well and runs with the ball very well. We’ve got quite a lot of passers in the middle of the park but he can carry it.

“Fortunately I know his agent from France, he gave us the opportunity to look at him. We’ve jumped on it really and now hopefully we’ll get the deal done.”