I think pretty much everyone looked at the Gourcuff move to Lyon as basically a horizontal move
for him. Why Lyon?
Fallen French giants Lyon are looking to new multi-million euro recruit Yoann Gourcuff to
breathe fresh life into a team which has struggled since the departure of Brazil legend Juninho two
years ago.
Relief is Finally Here.
Dejan Lovren is officially Lyonnais! The big, Balkan back arrived in Lyon Tuesday
with his agents and the Dinamo Zagreb sporting director for his medical and further negotiations.
All seemed to be moviing along smoothly until negotiations hit a minor snag during the late
afternoon.
Bernard Lacombe says that this is the match that will decide the championship for both clubs.
Marseille and Lyon are contending for the title, and given the tightly packed L1 table, and with
little less than two months until the end of the season, there is no room for mistakes.
March 21, 2010
Stade Velodrome, Marseille
4 PM ET (21:00 CET, 20:00 GMT)
Match Background:
Everyone remembers the last time these two teams met back in the fall, when French football
produced one of the greatest spectacles ever.
In the past two years, Olympique Lyonnais' iconic president Jean-Michel Aulas has been less of
the media addict he used to be. But that doesn't mean he kept completely quiet, and on several
occasions throughout the season he voiced his concerns and observations, sometimes quite frankly.
But usually, in the transfer season, Lyon play the smooth operator, and little is being announced
or even discussed publicly.
The transfer rumor mill continous to drag along in an unusually slow pace, but we've pretty much
locked up our first signing of the mercato this week, and our next potential target is now within
our sights. More news on the incoming rumors than outgoing this week, and I'm hoping the sale of
the laundry list of players who should be on the way out this summer picks-up, that way we'll have
a clearer picture of what are ultimate needs will be.
INCOMING:
HERNANES: After both JMA and Bernard Lacombe have seemingly closed the door on
the idea of Gourcuff, due to his exhorbitant release clause, focus has apparently
shifted to Sao Paolo's playmaker Hernanes, more so after Ganso,
valued at 20M€, has been heavily linked with deeper pocketed clubs in the past
few weeks.
18OOhrs CET, is when Jimmy Briand's signing was made official, as he was
unveiled to the world. After being snatched from the jowls of our top competitor for L1 supremacy
for some forseeable time, OM, the French international and former Rennes foward is finally
Lyonnais.
Along side of coach Claude Puel, JMA and his right hand man Bernard Lacombe, Monday's affair was
nothing out of the ordinary, as managment showered their newest signing with the usual pleasent
plattitudes one expects to hear at initial signing press conferences, but then again, their were
some interesting tidbits in the comments of the "Big Three;" the full translation is at the bottome
of the page.
This week's rumors.
IN:
ADIL RAMI: Rami's the hotest rumor going around this week. After Bernard
Lacombe's first choice for CB Bruno Alves has fizzled out. OL are said to be in
direct contact with Lille for Claude Puel's prefered candidate to replace
Boumsong, Adil Rami.
ANTHONY ANNAN: OL are supposedly looking at the young Ghanaian of Rosenborg to
strengthing the ranks in the DM department. Don't know that this makes any sense with
Makoun still not having found a home, but we'll see. Annan is rumored to be valued
at 3,5M€.
This afternoon, Lyon's newest acquisition took center stage at a press conference at Gerland.
Gourcuff reportedly put pen-to-paper on a five year deal, and his purchase price
was said to be 22M€ + an eventual 4M€ commision, payable to
Bordeaux upon Yoann's eventual sale.
The Senegalese Savior Arrives, Just in the Knick of Time.
Sorry for the late post guys, I was pretty busy, and also waiting to see if we signed
Laurent Bonnart as well to do a double post, but no such luck. Anyway, last
Tuesday, we all breathed a giant sigh of relief as our president failed to let us down once again,
and on the eve of the closing of the mercato window, solved a problem that would have definitely
been the ruin of our season, had it been left unremedied.
The tightest start to a Ligue 1 season for many years has aroused mixed opinions from those in
the know in France. After a third of the season gone, just 8 points separate the league's surprise
leaders, newly promoted Stade Brestois, and 19th place AS Nancy Lorraine and the ‘Big Three' –
Marseille, Bordeaux and Lyon – sit in 6th, 7th and 8th respectively.
