Lyon Sign EDERSON and BOUMSONG (plus other transfer news)

By: Inara | January 29th, 2008

With only three days left in the transfer window, Lyon’s mercato is wrapping up, and as far as I know, these two are the last arrivals (unless Lyon do bring in a DM). Ederson has been a long time Lyon target, and today, he signed from Nice for €15m on a 4 and a half year contract. However, he will be loaned back to Nice for the remainder of the season. Jean-Alain Boumsong was bought from Juventus on a three and half year contract for €3m as defensive cover.

Ederson already looks like he belongs!

Some details on Ederson and Boumsong:

Name: Honorato Campos Ederson
Age: 22
Position: Midfielder
Previous clubs: RS Futebol, Juventude, Nice

Ederson is my dream come true. I’ve wanted him at Lyon for so long that Ederson’s arrival almost feels like a personal victory. He’s been on the radar of several clubs for a while now, most notably Juventus, Valencia, Roma, and Lazio. Often touted as another “Ronaldinho,” Ederson is a tactically astute playmaker who possesses a fair amount of joga bonito.

Ederson received two other offers this January, one from Valencia and one from Roma, but he opted for Lyon for several reasons. First, Lyon was the only club to offer more than his release clause (€12m). So the deal was financially good for Nice, which Ederson wanted. And only Lyon were willing to let Ederson remain with Nice for the rest of the season. He didn’t want to leave his club without helping them achieving a spot in Europe for next year.

It was also a matter of acclimation. He’s spent the last four years in France, and at 22 years old, he may have decided that he’s not ready to leave for a foreign league just yet, especially since he’s learned to love French culture and life. And of course there was Juninho, who’s been pushing Lyon to recruit Ederson for the past couple of years while also pushing Ederson to consider Lyon. It’s no secret that out of all the potential successors for Juni, Ederson comes closest.

Ederson can take free kicks, he has a lot of pace and is a tricky dribbler, and best of all, he’s spent the last four years playing against Lyon, so he has more than a passing familiarity with his new team. He’s also the first Brazilian we’ve recruited who hasn’t come straight from Brazil (oh wait, there was Elber).

He’s also so damn adorable. Don’t you just want to take him home and feed him chicken soup? I also like that he’s always smiling. That’s a good thing. You can never have enough cheer on the team.

Ederson is tied with Fred as Lyon’s third most expensive transfer ever (behind Kader Keita and Sonny Anderson). Perhaps some people think is strange that Aulas spent so much money on a domestic player, but as the president himself said, Ederson is a player for Lyon’s future. Now that the first title winning generation of Lyon is winding down (Juninho, Gregory Coupet, and Sidney Govou are getting old while players like Sonny Anderson, Florent Malouda, Eric Abidal, and Mahamadou Diarra have left), Aulas is already building a second golden team, which will feature players like Ederson, Jeremy Toulalan, Karim Benzema, and Hatem Ben Arfa.

It was always meant to be.

While it would have been nice to have Ederson right now, Lyon’s midfield is jacked, and now that Boumsong has arrived, Mathieu Bodmer will be returning to midfield duties. I’m thinking that Ederson’s arrival means someone will leave next year, either Kim Kallstrom or Bodmer (probably Kallstrom). We also don’t know whether we’ll keep Marc Crosas. As for the non-EU spot, it’s also quite possible that Lyon will let Sao Paulo sign Fabio Santos permanently (with Aulas being pissed at him and all). So if Cris gets his Portuguese passport, Lyon will be respecting the quota.

Name: Jean-Alain Boumsong
Age: 28
Position: Defender
Previous clubs: Le Havre, Auxerre, Rangers, Newcastle, Juventus

I’m going to make a promise right now. You all know that I’m not one of Boumsong’s biggest fans and frequently single him out in criticisms. But now that he’s a Lyon player, I will be as supportive as I can, and I’ll stop with the references to the Chuckle Brothers. For better or worse, he’s ours now, and Lyon fans always stand behind their players.

He’s a French international, and though he’s a laughingstock among many football fans in the world, he does possess talent. It often puzzles many people how just a vilified player keeps on getting picked up by top clubs and getting call ups to the French NT. Raymond Domenech has made no secret of his affection for Boumsong, took him to the World Cup, and has left to door open for his return to the team.

Boumsong’s career started off promising while at Le Havre and then Auxerre, which prompted Rangers to lure him over to Scotland when he became a free agent. He did fairly well there and was eventually sold to Newcastle for nearly €11m. Unfortunately, his career plummeted while there (that pairing with Titus Bramble didn’t help), and he started being known for his glaring mistakes. Two years ago, Didier Deschamps brought him to Juventus, where he had a fairly solid Serie B campaign. But his reputation had gotten to the point that any mistake he made was magnified a hundredfold. When new manager Claudio Ranieri made it clear that Boumsong had no future at Juventus, he jumped at the chance to sign for Lyon.

He’s huge and is good in the air, so he has all the requisite qualities a defender needs. His only failing - a big one - is his lack of concentration. Hence the blunders. So the question is, can Boumsong revive his career at Lyon? It’s quite possible. Neither Juventus nor Newcastle boasted particularly good defenses, and perhaps if he’s paired with a steadier player such as Cris or Sebastien Squillaci, it might go better for him.

What is clear from his press conference is that he’s ambitious and wants to prove his critics wrong. He knows he’s better than his reputation, and he’s been given a lifeline by Lyon in order to clear his name. His trophy cabinet is also rather empty - besides a title with Rangers and a Serie B title with Juventus, he hasn’t won anything else. So he has a chance to become an important part of Lyon’s campaign.

A return to France might just be what he needs. There is nothing like being surrounded by your own people, speaking in your own language, and playing a style of football that makes you feel confident. So let’s keep our fingers crossed for him, okay?

Also, and this is equally important, Boumsong has such pretty eyes. Edit: here is a better picture. Dreamy, right?

I tried to find a serious Boumsong compilation, but I could only find bloopers, so instead, here is the goal he scored for Juve last week.

Other transfer news:

* Milan Baros’s loan move to Portsmouth has been finalized.

* Karim Benzema is expected to extend his contract in the next few weeks. Lyon will also be working on extensions for Hatem Ben Arfa, Jeremy Toulalan, Francois Clerc, and Loic Remy.

* Anthony Mounier will probably go out on loan to Boulogne, currently 11th in L2.

* Loic Remy is the subject of much interest. Lille would like him on a loan with an option to buy while Lorient, Caen, and Nice would like the young attacker on a permanent deal. Nice are especially hoping to take advantage of their new good relationship with Lyon. However, Remy thinks it is most likely he’ll stay.