LYON BRING-IN THE FIREPOWER!!!

By: John | July 15th, 2009

“LI-LO” Is Lyonnais, It’s Official.

Today, Lisandro Lopez was unvieled to the public in a press conference after his transfer arrival from FC Porto. Lisandro arrived in Lyon Saturday, after a weeks of negotiations and JMA caving-in- much to my chagrin- to Porto’s extortionary tactics, Lyon have finally netted the prolific Argentine international striker for a reported fee of 24 mill with performance bonuses of 4mill. That tops the hitherto club record for incoming transfers, held by Sonny Anderson of 18mill from FC Barcelona in 1999 and the deal is the second most expensive incoming L1 transfer ever, a record set by the purchase or Nicholas Anelka by PSG from Real Madrid for the sum of 34.5mill. Lisandro’s said to have penned a five year contract with OL, details of which haven’t been disclosed.

The first signing of the mercato is undoubtedly the most important and probably will remain the most important for some time to come. Why? For those of you who don’t know, the diminuitive striker is the real deal. Although not a household name, “LI-LO” as I have christened him, made a real name for himself last season in Europe, by ending-up the fourth leading scorer in the Champions League with six goals. He finished in fourth place, just behind Lionel Messi, Steven Gerrard, and Miroslav Klose, and ahead of world class strikers such as Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Van Persie, Thierry Henry, and yes, our own(back then) Karim Benzema. He also finished second in shots on goal with twenty-three(23), finishing just behind Cristiano Ronaldo who fired thirty-four(44).

This signing is a major coup for several reasons. First and most obvious, it fills a scoring void- more like scoring black hole- that emerged after Benzema’s departure for Real Madrid several weeks ago. Also, we replaced a word-class player with a world-class player. Usually we replace superstars with very young talent, but Lopez is ready to step-in and take-up exactly where his predecessor left-off. Finally, Lopez is a bulldog, and all he sees on the pitch is the goal. We have a bullish scorer for the future, and hopefully if we recruit a more creative striker to play in support, we will have a scoring duo that will terrorize defenses. If JMA does get Andre-Pierre Gignac -JMA’s still working on roping-in Loic Remy, Gignac, and Aly Cissokho after bagging Michel Bastos yesterday- he should recieve an infallibility akin to that which the Pope enjoys inside the walls of Vatican City. He will be immune from any and all criticism for the rest of his life!!!! You hear that Ronan?

Lopez is a tiny striker(1.68m) high, but what he lacks in height, he more than makes-up for with his stout and powerful body, his highly superb finishing ability, and the fact that he plays with more heart than most of his taller contemporaries. The Argentine international is a prolific goal scorer: in four seasons with Porto, he’s found the back of the net fourty-four (44)times in ninety-seven (97)appearences. In his best season (2007-08), “A Licha” burried twenty-four (24) goals in twenty-seven(27) appearences, taking the Portuguese Footballer of the Year Award in the process.

Aside from Lopez’s physical attributes and skills, he is also a winner: Lisandro has won the Portuguese Liga Title four times with Porto, won the Portuguese Cup twice, and the Portuguese Super Cup once. His personal achievments include winning the aforementioned Portuguese Footballer of the Year Award in ‘07-’08, and the designation as Top Scorer in A Liga Sagres that same season.

It’s definitely a great day for OL fans.