Have Lyon Gone Batshit Crazy?

By: Inara | July 15th, 2009

It was bound to happy eventually. I don’t know about you guys, but after the embarrassment of last season’s finish, I was dreading the oncoming ~dramah~, :tearz:, and angsty soap operas from the players and the staff. I was expecting a meltdown of epic proportions. I thought that the sky would fall.

Which sorta happened, but not exactly as I expected.

Did someone’s bunny just die? Oh wait, it was last season’s title hopes.

Instead, our beloved Jean-Mimi is going insane with his wallet. It’s as if he suddenly thinks Lyon are Real Madrid and can spend without being bothered by the price tag. To illustrate my point, let’s take a look at Lyon’s five main summer targets.

Lisandro Lopez - €24m + plus €4m in incentives
Michel Bastos – €18m + plus at least €2m incentives
Aly Cissokho – €15m + plus up to €4m in incentives
Andre-Pierre Gignac – €25m
Loic Remy – €16m + Anthony Mounier

So far, Lyon have only signed the first two, but Lyon are dead serious but acquiring the remaining three. The ink on Lopez’s contract is barely dry, and Bastos will be putting pen to paper in the next two or three days. Furthermore, Lyon are also confident over Cissokho (though with Porto, you never know – their president is even crazier than ours). The only two question marks are Gignac and Remy, both of whom are being zealously guarded by their clubs.

Lyon are buying Bastos so he can’t humiliate us anymore.

I’m okay with the amount spent on Lopez because he’s very experienced, he’s an international, he has a proven track record in Europe (which is key, in Lyon’s case), and Porto wanted to take advantage of the fact that Lyon were desperate to replace Karim Benzema. Even the amount we’re spending on Bastos doesn’t make me uneasy because A) It’s Lille, B) Seydoux Connection, and C) After Lyon spent a similar amount on Kader I’m-A-Waste-of-Space Keita, Lille can charge us whatever they want.

But here is where I’m getting concerned. Porto bought Cissokho last January for €300,000 from some tiny Portuguese club no one has ever heard of. Last year, Cissokho was plying his trade in the French second division. But after a really good game against Manchester United in the Champions League quarterfinals, he’s suddenly hot property, with Porto demanding over 30 times what they paid him for despite having him for only 5 months. Damn, that’s good business.

The worst part is that Lyon are actually willing to meet Porto’s €15m evaluation (Lyon tried to bid lower…if you consider €12m low…but Porto told Lyon to fuck off, and then Aulas got scared). The only reason things are still hung up is that the two clubs are bickering over incentives.

According to AC Milan, Cissokho has a tooth problem. I can kinda believe it.

Lyon’s bid of €13.5m + Anthony Mounier (who himself is valued at €5m) has been rejected because Nice want €18m + Mounier + Miralem Pjanic on loan. In response, Lyon will now be sending a renewed bid of €15m + the player. What is embarrassing is that Remy, an OL youth product, was sold last season for €8m to Nice (in order to compensate for the purchases of Ederson and Hugo Lloris). And now Lyon have to pay over twice as much to get him back because they underestimated his talent. This all seems pointless to me because I’m sure next year we’ll be trying to buy back Mounier.

The biggest transfer saga of all is shaping up to be Gignac’s. Toulouse don’t want to sell their best player, who was also the highest scorer in L1 last season. They especially don’t want to sell him to Lyon because they claim that Aulas is being classless by pursuing a player who is “off-limits.” Normally, I’d sympathize because Lyon go through that all the time, but then I remember what Toulouse did when they signed Gignac (he had already signed a pre-contract with Lille, and Lorient had also come to terms with Lille, when Toulouse lured him away with a better contract at the last possible second. It was a scandal). Now Toulouse are saying that they will only sell Gignac to Lyon if Aulas ponies up €25m. Lyon’s €15m offer has already been refused, though I feel Aulas might be willing to go up to €20m.

But here is the batshit crazy part. Assuming that Lyon get all five players (which might happen given the aggressive way they are pursuing both Remy and Gignac), Lyon will be spending at least €83m, not counting incentives. If Lyon end up paying the full asking price for Remy and Gignac, that number could catapult to €98m. Add in those incentives, and Lyon might end up as the second biggest spender this summer after Real Madrid.

Wait.

WHAT?

Gignac has been taking Michael Essien lessons.

Realistically, I expect Aulas to whittle down Gignac’s price a little – at least he could if Toulouse would stop ignoring his phone calls. On the other hand, I think Nice are pretty firm about their price, especially since Remy isn’t sure he wants to return, as opposed to Gignac, who is boycotting training. Lyon would also prefer to sign only one of the two, either Gignac or Remy, though the chief of operations, Marino Faccioli, is keen to point out that Lyon can afford both of them quite easily. But Aulas isn’t sure which club will gave in first, as both Nice and Toulouse can be rather stubborn – and there is always the possibility that neither Gignac or Remy will be released – so for now, Lyon are acting as if they want both.

While I’ve always advocated that one should not be afraid to spend money, I’m a little worried that breaking the bank this summer is more of a reactionary response to losing the title – and everything else – than sound planning. Furthermore, I didn’t even realize Lyon had that much money to spend, especially considering the piss poor season they just had. Granted, Lyon did sell Benzema for €35m and Keita for €8.5m, but that’s pretty much it for Lyon’s sales this summer. Juninho left on a free, and if Fabio Grosso leaves, I don’t see him going for more than €3m. So that’s hardly anything when compared to the expenditures. At the rate Aulas is going, he’s going to make the EPL look like cheapos.

Even Lyon’s alternative targets, left back Andre Santos of Corinthians and Kleber, a striker at Cruzeiro, may each end up costing upwards of €15m. In fact, I don’t think Lyon have any targets this summer under €12m. Now, I realize that prices are inflated all over the globe at the moment, but surely some quality players can be found in the €8m range. I just hope Lyon aren’t deluding themselves into thinking that more expensive = more quality. After all, Juninho, the best OL player ever, came to Lyon as a free agent.

And then there’s the fact that Lyon play in FRANCE. This EPL-esque spending is definitely a world removed from L1’s next biggest spender, Marseille (who, coincidentally, have yet to hit €40m despite bringing in seven players). The last thing I want is for Lyon to go into debt. Even though the departures of Benzema and Juninho have lightened the wage bill, money doesn’t grow on trees, especially in L1.

On the other hand, I’m thrilled that Lyon are finally throwing away the “oh-but-I’m-a-small-club” mentality. Lyon’s expenses are matching their ambitions (though I also said that last season, and we all saw how that turned out), and for once, they’re more concerned with having an awesome team than they are about profit.

Also, it’s kind of cool how Lyon are acting like such assholes in the transfer market. Not that I in anyway want to encourage this sort of behavior, as I always hate it when bigger clubs just waltz in and expect that they can sign our players, but it’s nice to be able to do the same. Because contrary to public belief, Lyon often don’t get their way.

In any event, if Lyon get four of the five players from their list, they will have a squad that can challenge both domestically and in Europe (that being the main goal, I feel). At the very least, L1 promises to be very interesting next season.

Guys, I’ve missed you all! I feel like I’ve been away from this blog for far too long. Thankfully, John stepped up to pick up all my slack, but expect to see more of me around from now on!

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Jean-Michel Aulas, Team News and Rumors, Transfers

« WEEKLY TRANSFER ROUND-UP IV | Home | LYON BRING-IN THE FIREPOWER!!! »

Ben

Cissokho is signed!!!

http://footballfraternity.word...
Theo Walcott 14

I think we are praising Lucio too much.Of course he is a great player but I dont realy think he is a rock in the defense because he often runs into the attack and leaves much place in the own half and in the defence.Because of this he is responsible for many goals that Bayern conceded but also he has scored a number of goals.Still he would be a great signing not just because of his playing qualitys also because of his mentality and attitude to win.
Flash

John: We conceded 0.8 a match, and we are the second best defence in the league. But the reason for that is that we played very defensive last year. We played with two DMs in most of the games. We also scored just 52 goals compared to Marseilles 67. Next year we will play more offensive so we will concede more goals. A player like Lucio would be good for us.
Jao

Aulas just said after the Lisandro Lopez presentation that he expects Cissokho to be here by the end of the week. I almost passed out when I heard that. LMAO
John

Flash: I can't go back and find the game-by-game stats since the Ligue 1 website seems to have erased them, but I don't think you assertion "POL, did you watched how Boum-Cris played last season? They played horrible together, we conceded at least one goal every match," is true. I can't verify the Cris-Boumsong pairing gave-up one goal a match, but there's a reason we ended-up as the number two defense in the league(goals allowed). And to my recollection, a ton of goals were given-up when Grosso went down and Kallstrom had to fill-in, both in the league and especially in the CL. Gilardino was sending Kallstrom flowers after the matches due to all the crosses he turned into scores that came from the left. Before that, we were a stiffling defense in the League. Cris went on a freefall after that first Nice game when he gave up a crucial- or was it two crucial goals- and he played like crap the rest of the season, but I don't think that one-goal-a-match claim is correct. Regardless, if Cris doesn't get back into pre-injury form this soon, we are in trouble, bec Boumsong is solid, but we can't have him paired with Bodmer in the later rounds of the CL, and who knows if the "Glass Ghanaean," Mensah will be healthy, redcarded, or having an emotional crises due to racist police/fans.
Jao

Lisandro Lopez presentation on OLTV now.
John

I was thinking a few weeks ago that Lyon should move for Fabiano, but he once Milan got in, Luis doesn't want to know about another club. But we should try, hang-around and see if he falls in our hands.
John

lefutur: exactly, the 4-4-2 is very taxing on the players and rotation will be a must. About Makoun, remember, he was one of our most offensive players last year, tied with Ederson and Juni until the Caen match when Juni got scored. I think Mak my be more valuable in a CMF role getting foward and Toul staying back. Of course when he leaves for the ACN, Ederson and Kallstrom should fill that spot nicely. Also, Kallstrom is definately a goog back-up in the league at LB. I was impressed with his progression.
John

Corey: Ben Arfa obviously couldn't be kept unless we sold Benzema and let him destroy the team. Second, Remy was an almost straight swap for Lloris- there was a 500k diff in the price, I don't remember which was the more expensive. It was a smart move, becuase at the time, Remy wasn't proven as a striker or LWF, both roles he devoloped into at Nice. He was just a RWF and we had three or four older players vying for that position at the time,and there was no way, at the beginning of last season, he was going to get playing time. We got the best keeper in L1 and possibly one of the best on the world stage in years to come for a pittance and snatched him out of AC Milan's claws. Plus, there was a clause that OL be notified first if Remy were to be sold. I think it was a good move, it's just that I don't think any of us thought that Remy would take off so fast and that Cohen would be such a hard ass. Just think of it as paying 10mill for a French international striker, who can play anywhere along the front line and one of the top scorers in the league for years to come, and we still got Hugo for peanuts.
lefutur

I actually think its good that Lyon have some extra players this season. Pjanic, Kallstrom, delgado can be worked into the rotation like a proper BIG club does. I suppose if anyone is overly worried about playing time they can be loaned out but I'd like to see how different line-ups work within the 4-4-2 system. I dont necessarily think both makoun and toul need to play together all the time, especially if Lyon are on the offensive. also, i have no problem giving kallstrom playing time at LB for ligue games. he improved a lot at that position.
Ronan

Porto would be stupid to turn down 15mill for a player they bought for 300 000
Ronan

That interview Faccioli says Aly was close.Dunno I like Aly hope he comes.
Jao

Abola. Portuguese sports news website. They are referencing it from the interview Faccioli did with RMC though.
Ronan

Jao-where did you read that porto were reluctant to sell Aly ?
aleksander

City is in for Fabiano, and fab only wants milan
Ronan

http://www.goal.com/en/news/10...

Fucking hell if Sevilla want 20mill for Fabiano we should with draw are bids for Remy and Gignac right away
Jao

Faccioli is now saying Porto are reluctant to sell Cissokho now.
Ronan

If Lyon fail with Gignac/Remy other targets inculde Vagner Love,Pandev,Oliveira,Kleber and Vucinic. According to Mercato365.
Shadow

just had a peak at the official website, and you can see the home and away kits, as well as the European kit.

All in all, the European one is my favorite, with the away one being my least favorite.
Ronan

Yethe centre backs are not good enough-fact. Last year in the CL we got ripped apart in defence,and seeing as everyone wants to do better in the cl a new centre back is of paramount importance. Bodmer is a midfielder lets make that clear he is a CM not a CB.Cris is 32 and I would be astonished if he got back to his best(by the way why would you take what he says in an interview seriously-hes not exactly gonna say I am shit and wont get back to form-is he)Boumsong is solid enough(just about)although I still have nightmars about him making a callamatous error in an important game for OL. Mensah would be good but he is always injured and will never be able to play 30+ games a season,so he is unfortunately out of the question.
aleksander

i Think Bodmer can do a good job, he's tall, exellent teqnique, and he will improve as a cb
Stanley

I think we needed to spend that money because we def need to get through to the group stages of the CL lets remember we don't know who we'll have yet in the prelim and advancing is not certain
Flash

POL, did you watched how Boum-Cris played last season? They played horrible together, we conceded at least one goal every match
Pride of Lyon

I am thinking that we don't need anyone in defense. Reveillere can er for LB if necessary. And I am not talking about all our young promising players such as Kolo. Why did we fight to get him if it is not to play him?

I liked the interview of Cris on the olweb. He sounded very positive and ready for the season. I think Boumsong - Cris pair will work very well. We don't need another CB since we have Mensah and Bodmer (though not originaly a CB).

All we need is 2 more strikers to plays a 4-4-2.

We need 1 other crack up front (Gignac?) plus another "cheapish" striker (5~8 millions). Though I still believe in Piquionne as a support striker!
Theo Walcott 14

I agree with Jao about the CB problem.If we cant get Lucio than we should buy some of these guys that Jao wrote(Benatia,Baal,Boye).
Corey,why dont you get a job at Lyon as advisor of Aulas?I am sure you would be great. :D
Flash

Aulas realised that we need a stronger squad when we lost the Ligue 1 title. When we had won it he wouldnt bring so many new players, and I think that also many players will leave this season
Shadow

first off, glad to have you back.

second, Aulas seems to have put his foot down and is playing the " no more Mr. Nice-Guy" card with these transfer targets. He's done it before ( when he got Lloris, who was one point going to Milan ).

Even though i do agree that the money in question for all these guys is alot, but we always knew Lyon had that kind of cash stored in hiding. Aulas doesnt like losing, and he's gonna make sure we put up a big fight to ensure we never do that again lol.
Ronan

"To play for Lyon would be great, but I don't want to get excited like I did with Milan and then see everything fall down," he told skysports.com.

"At the moment I am relaxed, whether next season I play for Porto or Lyon."

^^Cissokho had some nice things to say about Lyon,I didnt think he was that keen but obviously he is.Dont really get why a player would be that excited about Leaving Porto to join Lyon,in many peoples eyes Porto is the bigger club.
Corey

Welcome back Inara!

I bet I could find some good players for Lyon at under 12 million euro, but I would have to command a fee for my services of course, like any good agent. With that being said, I think that this is one of the worst transfer strategies I have ever seen, and it all started two summers ago with the loss of Ben Arfa. Since then, Auluas has been throwing away great talent from the youth teams that he then either tries to buy back or spends double the amount on to buy other teams players. Buy back Remy? Why, you shunned him away for two seasons when clearly he was far better an option the Kader Keita. Piss poor planning.

Now they want to do the same thing with Mounier? They sold Paillot, which was a huge error, and they might have to sell Gassama if one of Reviellere or Clerc is not moved on. Also, an alternative to Remy in Jeremy Pied of the CFA team was just sent on loan to Metz. So other then Govou there is only Grenier as a right winger. Who is making these decisions?
Jao

Cissokho link doesn't mention whether it was contract terms or a transfer fee. Either way, this looks like a done deal. Overpriced or not, we will be acquiring a player Milan sought and, IMO, backed out of the deal on a silly technicality, because they felt they were being screwed.

Also, I agree that we need another CB, but not some big names like Lucio that's running about here. Maybe a small French player on the rise (Mehdi Benatia would be a good signing, John Boye, or Ludovic Baal ). I think some severely underestimate Bodmer's ability at centre back considering Lyon have 14 wins, 3 draws, and 6 losses when he starts at that position. Sure he is better as a MF, but with our midfield as stacked as it is, Puel believes Bodmer can be effectively used in the squad as a CB. I think he will only play as a mid if injuries are rampant.
Ronan

yer things are coming along nicely

http://www.topmercato.com/6111...
Ronan

http://www.skysports.com/story...

I think 4-4-2 actually,Id like

Lloris
Clerc-Cris-Lucio-Cissokho
Ederson-Toulalan-Makoun-Bastos
Mbokani-Lisandro
Flash

With this formation we played realy bad last season, and I think we should change to 4-4-2, more offensive football
Ronan

I think its extremely worth while Lyon make an effort for Lucio,he would be the leader of team Aulas and Puel crave-hes a top defender-the Brazil captain for God sakes !It baffles me why Munich want to sell him as he has been nothing but a rock for them since he arrived. Lyon may not be Lucios first choice,but theres business there to be done with Bayern and who knows Lucio is a similar profile of player as Elber and we attracted him from Bayern,I also feel if Lucio partnered Cris,then Cris form would improve. 7mill for Lucio represents great value for money and I think with him and the attacking players coming Lyon could be a dark horse for the CL.Lisandro,Cissokho,Bastos,Remy/Gignac/? represents a CL quater final. For me Lisandro,Cissokho,Bastos,Gignac/Remy/?,Lucio represents a L final possibly.
Ronan

The problem with a 4-4-2 is that only one of Delgado,Ederson and Govou could play-and I guess that means Ederson would play but it seems a shame leaving out Govou and Delgado. Makoun,Bastos and Toulalan are certainties to start in midfield,I guess it depends if we get another good recognised striker we will definately play a 4-4-2,but I like a 4-3-3-I dont mean a 4-5-1 I mean a real 4-3-3
Ronan

Dont forget at the moment we have spent less than 0.We have sold more than bought but with the hopefully imminant arrivals we should spend about 30mill,I think Lyon should look abroad for strikers-for Remy and Gignac combined is eqivelant to 45mill-baring in mind the players have two French caps between them-that is a waste of money-with the money Lyon are prepared to put on both Gignac and Remy-45mill we could get a good centre back and two great strikers abroad
Theo Walcott 14

Yer Ronan,but Flash thought when we play with a 4-4-2 system and not 4-5-1.That means you have to change your formation.
Ronan

sum how we have to have Delgado,Ederson and Bastos in the team-they will create,but then what about the new striker-I dunno,we cant drop Toul or Mak obviously.

Lloris
Clerc-Boumsong-Lucio/Tamas-Cissokho
Toulalan-Makoun
Delgado-Ederson-Bastos
Lisandro
Ronan

Makoun has to play,Toulalan has to play,Ederson has to play,Bastos has to play and for me Delgado has to play.I guess that leads me to

Toulalan-Makoun
Delgado-Ederson-Bastos
Lisandro
Theo Walcott 14

Flash,I would play with Govou-Toule-Makoun-Bastos(with Govou as Captain) but there are also players like Delgado,Ederson,Pjanic,Mounier and Grenier so its better we loan some of these players(Pjanic,Grenier) because they wont get much playing time.
Flash

If we next season play with 4-4-2 formation who should play in midfield
Govou-Toule-Makoun-Bastos
Ederson-Toule-Makoun-Bastos or
Govou-Toule-Ederson-Bastos
Sam

Also, there's a picture of Bastos in a Lyon kit on the official website. Absolutely love the new kit btw! Looks great.
Sam

We're 3rd biggest behind Real and Man City atm. Good to have you back, always enjoyable to read. Agreed that the Cissokho fee is unbelievable. Maybe he is the real deal though - goal put him on their top 50 players of the year. I've not seen him play before, but the fee is undoubtedly inflated for what is only 6 good months. Also, have to agree how embarrassing the whole Remy thing is! He was here only 12 months ago and now they want to pay through the ass to get him back.

Maybe what Lyon are doing now is spending big this year so that they have the team they want, and then let them settle for the next couple of years. Perhaps they've decided to spend big this year so they don't have to in forthcoming years?
lefutur

batshit crazy or not, if lyon are the second biggest spenders this mercato a lot of peeps will be watching our games and maybe buying our jerseys. thats pretty good business i guess.
Theo Walcott 14

http://goal.com/en/news/90/fra...
Theo Walcott 14

I read that Bayern alowed Lucio to go.Now we must react very fast if we want to bring him to Lyon.It seams that Man.City are the favourites.
Theo Walcott 14

The new jerseys are good,I like the away one more.And pean8ts I dont raely think that madrid will play the CL final so the final will probably be LYON vs. ARSENAL :D

Arent Novotel and Ticket our sponsors?
http://img193.imageshack.us/im...
http://img193.imageshack.us/im...
pean8ts

What do you guys think of the new jerseys?
I kinda like it, but i wished home and away shirts were more alike, with just the color changing... not the case... Oh, and we need a sponsor...
pean8ts

Glad to read you again Inara.

I don't remember Lyon spending much last year, and didn't spend at all last winter transfer window, so they have cash.

With Gignac and one more defender, the team could be kinda cool.

And I'd love to meet KB's real madrid in CL finale.
Ronan

I thought about Bassong but then are centre backs would be Bassong-Boumsong and that just sounds weird. This season for sure I want Cesar Delgado to play more-he impressed me last season
Theo Walcott 14

What do you guys think about Bassong as CB?
Ronan

.I think Lyon should stop the persuit of Remy and Gignac-not only are we being way overcharged but it is taking so long to negotiate sum one for 10mill a striker is much better-like Kleber.After Cissokho,Lisandro,Bastos and Kleber I think forget Remy and Gignac and sign a decent CB-for me thats are weekest area once we have recruited these players.Probably the most ridiculous is 25mill for Gignac-way over valued-you cant blame Porto for slapping a big price tag on Cissokho because they have already let big players go this year.
Ronan

I wouldnt be concerned about spending just yet,afterall thus far we have sold more than we have bought-Benzema 35mill,Keita 7.5mill,so thats 42.5mill-oh and Paillot for 2mill so thats 44.5mill in and Lisandro-24mill,Bastos(not done yet)but hes 18mill(very expensive)so thats 42mill,so as things stand we have sold more than we have bought. I think Cissokhos fee is a joke-but at least we know its not sum personal thing they have against Aulas or Lyon-as they charged Milan the same.I thought we could have got Cissokho as part of the Lisandro deal-kind of like 32mill for both in stead of 39 for both individual