Herve Koffi Joins Union Saint-Gilloise on Loan

Union Saint-Gilloise have moved quickly to plug the gap left by Kjell Scherpen, turning to a familiar name in Belgian football: Herve Koffi.

The Brussels club, searching for a new No.1 after Scherpen’s switch to Ipswich Town and the Premier League, are set to bring in the Burkina Faso international on loan from Lens, according to LDH. It’s a deal that makes footballing sense and carries very little mystery. Union know exactly what they’re getting.

A proven performer, short on minutes

Koffi arrives off the back of an outstanding campaign with Angers, where he was among the standout goalkeepers in Ligue 1 last season. Sharp off his line, aggressive in his area, and consistent over long stretches of the season, he played a major part in Angers’ strong year.

His parent club, Lens, have not offered the same platform. Since joining them in 2024, Koffi has barely featured, stuck behind established options and watching his momentum stall on the bench. At 27, with another Africa Cup of Nations on the horizon next summer if Burkina Faso qualify, he cannot afford another season of waiting.

Union can. They need a starter now.

From Abidjan to Brussels, via Lille and Mouscron

Koffi’s path to this point has been anything but linear. He came through ASEC Mimosas in Côte d’Ivoire, a factory line for West African talent and a club that has sent players all over Europe. From there, Lille picked him up in 2017, seeing enough raw ability to bring him into one of France’s most respected development environments.

First-team chances were limited. He made six senior appearances for Lille, glimpses rather than a run. The real breakthrough came in Belgium.

In 2020/2021 he joined Royal Excel Mouscron, then linked to Lille through ownership. The club may now be defunct, but that season still looms large in Koffi’s career. Thirty-four games, heavy traffic in front of him, and constant pressure. He impressed. Enough to earn a move to Charleroi in the summer of 2021.

There, he became a fixture. Ninety-six matches for the Zebras, week after week of solid, often spectacular work. By the time he left for France, he had established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the Belgian Pro League, a reference point for reliability and presence.

Union’s logic

So this is not a gamble. Union are picking up a goalkeeper who knows the league, the stadiums, the rhythm of Belgian football. There is no adaptation curve, no need to discover whether he can handle the physicality or the winter pitches. He already has.

Koffi offers them a reliable shot-stopper, someone comfortable behind a high-energy side that spends long stretches on the front foot but still needs authority in the defensive third. Scherpen’s move to Ipswich Town left a sizeable void. On paper, Koffi looks like a direct, capable replacement.

For Union, the equation is simple: a proven keeper in his prime, hungry for minutes and with a point to prove in a league where he has already excelled.

For Koffi, it’s something else: a return to a country where his reputation was made, and a platform to arrive at the next Africa Cup of Nations not as a back-up, but as a goalkeeper in full flow.