Sacha Tavolieri is reporting that Rwandan international Hakim Sahabo is set to join Standard Liege from Lille. the 18-year-old, born in Brussels, made his debut for the Rwandan national side in a friendly against Ethiopia. This month he played 90 minutes as Rwanda lost 2-0 to Mozambique during qualification for the upcoming African Cup of Nations in the Cote d’Ivoire.
Sahabo has spent his career with the Lille U19 side. Now it appears he will be moving across the border to join Standard Liege. Tavolieri reported that the player was initially brought in to join the sides youth side, but for the next few weeks he will be training with the first team.
Belgium has seen a handful of Rwandan internationals ply their trade in the country. Djihad Bizimana recently played for SK Beveren when they were in the top flight, but now plays for Deinze in the second tier. Désiré Mbonabucya also remains Sint-Truiden’s top scorer in the Pro League, having scored 62 goals for the Canaries in 158 games over a period of seven years.
Standard recently unveiled former Club Brugge head coach Carl Hoefkens as their replacement for Ronny Deila. The former Celtic man only spent one season in Liege before joining Hoefken’s former side Club Brugge near the end of the 2022/2023 season. Yaya Toure has also joined the staff at Standard for the 2023/2024 season.
