How Come I Didn’t Know That Cris Has a Twin?

By: Inara | November 14th, 2007

I realize that I can’t expect to know everything about my beloved Lyon players (though it’s not for a lack of trying). But you would think that Cris having a twin would be interesting enough news to catch the radar of an avid fan. I mean, I once spent two hours trying to find baby pictures of Juninho (not that I’m a stalker or anything), so I feel a little miffed about my complete ignorance of the fact that there are two Crises in the world.

Guess which one is Cris

So how did I find out? I was browsing Lyon’s website the other day and came across an episode of OL System (the club’s talkshow) that featured Cris and what he was doing in Brazil. And at the end of the clip, they showed Cris eating next to a guy that looks EXACTLY like him. Either that’s his twin brother or Aulas has started cloning his best players (which wouldn’t surprise me either).

Cris’s dad. It’s obvious from where Cris and his brother got their looks.

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Chris over at the Roma Offside emailed me with a report that Lyon are prepared to offer €22m for Mancini this January and are additionally prepared to meet his salary demands of €3.5m per year. Now, Italian media isn’t exactly considered reliable, so you guys can all breathe easy now. Lyon were interested in Mancini last summer, back when Sidney Govou was still a waste of space and Hatem Ben Arfa was a spoiled brat.

But now? Lyon don’t want any wingers, even if they’re for free! I don’t know about you guys, but I am SO glad Jose Antonio Reyes chose to sign for Atletico Madrid, and I’m not even that sad about Florent Malouda leaving for Chelsea. Based on the glimpses Ben Arfa have been giving us of his talent, I think this is one area where Lyon won’t need to be concerned about recruitment.

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However, though I’m not in favor of recruiting in the January transfer window unless in an emergency, there has been widespread gossip that Milan Baros might seek a move away from Lyon. He and Alain Perrin aren’t on the best of terms, and Baros reportedly said on Czech television that he and Perrin have had a “discussion.”

Baros doesn’t want to leave – he likes Lyon and likes the club, but he doesn’t want to become a permanent fixture on the bench, and if Perrin keeps ignoring him, he will move. So where to for Baros? Monaco has expressed an interest in reuniting him with his Czech Republic teammate, Jan Koller. Those two form a very effective and deadly strike pair for their NT, and Baros has often said that he would like to play with Koller in club competition.

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Lyon will probably not fight to keep Baros, especially if the rumors are true that they want to sign Boca Juniors striker Rodrigo Palacio. No, I’m not rolling my eyes.

When it comes to Argentine football, I tend to be a River Plate supporter (it has nothing to do with the fact that I think Radamel Falcao is really cute), so I’m not a big Palacio fan in the first place. And to be honest, he really hasn’t done anything to deserve a €18m transfer fee. I also don’t like Palacio’s rattail.

But apparently Lyon have sent scouts to watch Palacio in Buenos Aires and consider him a good investment (though the last time I checked, good investments aren’t 25 years old). The hangup is the fact that Palacio’s contract is only partially owned by Boca. The majority of it is owned by a private company. Do Lyon really want to go through that, especially since they just recently closed up the Nilmar affair?

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Raymond Domenech, who’s best talent is probably his amazing ability to make enemies out of every coach in the footballing world, has added another notch to his impressive tally. Alain Perrin is not pleased at having Jeremy Toulalan, currently out with a knee injury, called up for international duty.

Thanks to Laurie who reported it first.