The major projects awaiting OL

A building to be rebuilt. For several years, Olympique Lyonnais proved that its foundations were very solid both sportingly and economically under the leadership of its site manager Jean-Michel Aulas. But recently, the Rhone building cracked little by little. And Sunday night, she collapsed. While Les Gones could qualify for the next edition of the UEFA Champions League, they lost 3-2 to Nice as Monaco could not do better than a draw in Lens. A nightmare for the residents of Groupama Stadium who will not see the C1 for the second year in a row.

Beyond the financial losses that this generates, and which are not negligible after a season in a period of covid-19 and without enduring, OL will have to rebuild in depth. Everything is not to be thrown away of course. But the site is colossal. The Lyon leaders are working on this new project, they who have not necessarily made the right choices. Appointed sporting director in May 2019, Juninho has not yet succeeded in building a conquering OL. After the Sylvinho failure, the Brazilian bet on Rudi Garcia, who had convinced him during his interview, rather than Laurent Blanc. But relations between the two men quickly became strained and they were not on the same wavelength.

Find a new architect to build a competitive team

The game offered but above all the management of the players, in particular Bruno Guimarães, had greatly displeased him as explained on our site. Garcia was therefore logically dismissed. “Juni”, who still enjoys the confidence of his management, should not be mistaken this time about the identity of the future coach of OL. And if according to our information no decision has been taken yet, some names have come out of the hat. The team explains that Christophe Galtier is always the priority. Peter Bosz and Lucien Favre would also be tracked. Ditto for Patrick Vieira. Long followed, Roberto De Zerbi should not come, while other coaches have been proposed (Jardim, Paulo Fonseca, Luis Castro) according to the sports daily.

In search of a new architect, Juninho and OL will not have the right to make mistakes, they who want to initiate a new turn as explained in a press release published on Monday. “Olympique Lyonnais is already preparing the construction of a new ambitious project. The choice made by the institution to align the end of many supervision contracts with June 30 (staff of Rudi Garcia, Baticle, Revel, editor’s note) will allow the start of a new cycle whose ambitions will remain more European than ever. The club will soon communicate on its new organization with the highest ambitions, thanks to a workforce rich in high-level individuals that it will also renew, both in national competitions and in the Europa League ”.

Movement among players

Beyond the coach and a new impetus that he will have to give both in terms of the state of mind and the game, there will also be movement on the side of the players. On the departures side, Memphis Depay is going free. It will be necessary to succeed in replacing the captain and an element capable of scoring as of delivering assists. Maxwel Cornet, he should have a good exit. Djamel Benlamri could also pack up. Lyon is also counting on a big sale. A priori that of the middle Houssem Aouar. We will also have to manage the cases of elements loaned this season, such as Joachim Andersen who has a good odds in the Premier League. Spanish champion with Atlético de Madrid, Moussa Dembélé will also have to settle his future. Others are also in this case (Reine-Adelaïde, Koné, Jean Lucas, Diop).

On the arrivals side, Lyon is already looking into several issues. In defense, the name of Rennais Damien Da Silva was mentioned. At the left side position, the Brazilian Henrique Silva holds the rope. Finally, a versatile winger is also in demand. The team recently spoke about Jérémie Boga (Sassuolo) and talents made in Brazil, Juninho’s privileged hunting ground. OL therefore intend to bring new blood while relying on a framework with elements such as Lopes, Denayer, Marcelo or Lucas Paqueta. Young people like Caqueret or Cherki will also certainly have to take more power. The change is now in Lyon!