Latest Transfer News and Rumors

By: John | January 21st, 2009

The opening of the transfer window saw barely any rumors of potential transfers into Lyon. It looked like Puel was content with what he had and stated many times that OL “weren’t going to recruit just for the sake of recruiting.” Indeed, it looked like Lyon weren’t going to make any moves at all, aside from the fizzled-out Pascal Chimbonda courtship. But In the last two weeks, a flurry of activity has begun on the acquisition front, especially after the injuries to Sidney Govou and John Mensah, and the departure of Fred, who it seems everyone -except JMA- was sure would not renew his contract and leave at this winter window. A long list of names rumored to be Lyon targets have come across the football papers in the last weeks, from weak rumors like Modibo Diakate, to Brazilians Anderson, Guilherme, and Kleber, to more solid rumors like Charles N’Zogbia. The following is a list of the concrete negociations that OL are/have been involved in, and a new development or two.

Defense:

Lyon seem to be focused solely on finding a RB as the only negotiations on the defensive front- St. Etienne rejected OL’s interest in Mouhamadou Dabo- seem to be for Julien Faubert. With the injuries to Mensah and Govou, Faubert has become more appealing to OL since he can play all along the right side.
For those who aren’t familiar with him, Faubert is an ex-Cannes and Bordeaux player who moved to West Ham in ‘07. He ruptured his achilles tendon in his first season and has seen little playing time since then. He has (0) goals in (25) appearences for WH and (1) goal in (1) appearence for the French NT. Even though West Ham coach Gianfranco Zola has now declared that he wants Faubert to stay, Julien seems to have his heart set on joining Lyon and all the perqs that that may bring i.e., return to the France squad, CL play, etc. He recently had this to say about the deal in Aujourd’hui Sport:

“I am crossing my fingers. Lyon would really be great. I would rediscover Ligue 1 and France but also the Champions League and the eyes of the national-team coach. Because my aim still remains the 2010 World Cup. I really hope this is going to sort itself out.”

The only thing seemingly holding-up the deal is Lyon’s desire for a loan deal. But it seems that the signing is emminent and Faubert should be joining Lyon soon.
Alot of you have voiced your lack of ethusiasm over this trasfer. I’ve also been wondering if the Lyon staff have taken into account Faubert’s serious injury, inlight of the fact that our players are dropping like flies, with many starting to blame the conditioning coach. On the bright side, if Lyon do lose to Barca, then we really won’t need another right back- maybe just for back-up- since Gassama can get the job done in league play. A young leftback who can play on the right also would be much more useful in this situation. And as long as it’s a loan deal, there really isn’t much downside, along as Faubert stays healthy that is.

Offense:

Lyon have made a move for Caen stiker Steve Savidan. After Caen rubuffed Marseille’s offer for the former Valenciennes man, Lyon have made a move, offering 13mill euros including Frederic Piquionne. Caen has said that they don’t wish to sell their prized asset, but Savidan has coyley stated that he would be open to a move, but that it’s not an imperative for him. It’s doubtful that Caen will turn down this offer for a 30year-old striker, but stranger things have happened. Savidan has avereged 14 goals per year the last three years with Valenciennes and is currently 6th in the league in scoring, just two goals behind Karim Benzema. I love his humble attitude, something that would be a breath of fresh air at OL, and it would be quite a “Cinderella” story if he ended up at Lyon with a fat contract after working at a grocery store to support himself during the offseason in the past, but I think that kind of money for a striker of that age is not smart. I’d rather see that money go towards getting Loic Remy back next year.

Real Zaragoza’s striker Ricardo Oliveira is back in Lyon’s sights. Rumors are starting that OL will be looking to bring-in the Brazilian, to replace everyone’s favorite Brazilian striker at Lyon, who up till now and unfortunately hasn’t been been forcefully put on a plane by French authorities and shipped back to Brazil with the utmost expedience.
Oliviera is a prolific striker and has (7) goals in (8) appearences this season and scored (18) in (37) last season. Although Zaragoza were relegated to second division(Segund Liga) this season, Oliveira decided to stay on, rufusing a loan spell.
Which begs the question: why would he be willing to move to Lyon? Nothing came of Lyon’s interest during the past summer. I’m sure if he wanted to leave, the ex-AC Milan man would have plenty of larger clubs after his signature. Also, why would he come to OL to play second to Benzema? I could understand if we played a 4-4-2. So unless he’s desperate to play in possibly one CL game, I don’t understand why he would even consider it.