Lyon’s Defensive Options

By: Inara | August 20th, 2007

I’m fairly confident that Lyon will sign a defender by the end of this week. At the latest, by the beginning of next week. So I thought it would be a good idea to go over the players Lyon have been seriously linked with.

Criteria: A left-footed central defender who can play as left back should the situation arise. The player also needs to understand that he is being signed as a back up, and it will be up to him to prove he merits a starting spot once Cris returns to fitness. He should preferably have some experience at the highest levels, either in Europe or internationally. Oh, and he can’t expect EPL-like wages.

Until recently, another criteria would have been that he be an EU citizen, but the LFP has granted Lyon an exemption and will allow them to field five non-EU players. And now that Juninho just received his French citizenship, Lyon have two slots open.

The candidates:

Name: Gabriel Heinze
Club: Manchester United
Age: 29

This name has been on everyone’s lips at the Stade de Gerland. He has done a great job at becoming Manchester United’s latest villain (they sure have a lot of those) by demanding a move to their arch rivals Liverpool. His transfer saga is turning out to be as dramatic as that of his newest teammate, Carlos Tevez. You can read a brief background about it here.

I speculated about Lyon’s possible move for Heinze in this post, and I still stand by my comments. Unless given absolutely no choice, I don’t see Heinze returning to L1.

But we’ll see. If United win their case and Heinze gets frozen out of their squad (Ferguson can be vindictive like that), he might be more willing to consider his options.

Name: Mikael Silvestre
Club: Manchester United
Age: 30

I feel like Lyon have been in a state of continuous linkage with Silvestre since January 2006, when Lyon were undergoing another injury crisis (we seem to have a lot of those). A year and a half ago, Lyon made an offer for Silvestre, but he thumbed his nose at at the offer and turned us down, convinced he could win his place back on the squad. Since then, he has pretty much lost all chances of receiving a second offer, though given the desperate situation Lyon are in, and if all their other choices fail, he might be receiving a call from Bernard Lacombe.

But only if things go drastically wrong for OL.

Name: Jean-Alain Boumsong
Club: Juventus
Age: 27

Anytime I see his name, I cringe. And when I see his name in the same sentence as Lyon, I feel nauseous. It’s not that I have anything against him personally, but if he was bumped off the first team of a relegated Juventus…well, a girl has to have standards, doesn’t she?

Well, Aulas doesn’t, which is why he did formulate an offer. However, he wants Boumsong on loan. Neither Juventus nor Boumsong agreed, both wanting a full transfer. Juventus could use the money whereas Boumsong wants security.

If gossip is to be believed (and half the time it isn’t), Lyon will be offering a three year contract to Boumsong this week. Let’s hope it’s not for real. I know that he used to be a good player at Auxerre, and as Del_Boy pointed out in a previous post, he does have experience. But frankly, having Boumsong at the back isn’t any better than having Patrick Muller. So I will be fervently hoping the Boumsong rumors are false.

Name: Phillippe Senderos
Club: Arsenal
Age: 22

He’s been linked on and off. A bench player at Arsenal, Senderos is an attractive prospect because he is young, a French speaking Swiss, is experienced at high levels, and can relinquish his place when the time comes.

Even better, he is familiar with Patrick Muller since they play together for the Swiss National Team, and should the need ever arise, those two can be paired together with little drama.

But again, he plays in the EPL, and only the dejected, unemployed, or benched make the trip to L1 from England.

Name: Anderson Kleber
Club: Benfica
Age 27

This name came out of nowhere. Until two days ago, there was no linkage between him and Lyon, and now, according to the press, his signing may be imminent (but then so is Boumsong’s and Heinze’s…).

A Brazilian, climbed up the ranks at Corinthians before catching the eyes of Benfica two years ago. A good defender, his relationship with Benfica’s new manager, Fernando Santos, isn’t on the best of terms, mostly due to Santos’s refusal to play him on the left side, a position which now belongs to Luisão.

Cruzeiro has expressed the strongest interest in having Anderson, though a few other clubs are in the picture as well, including Zenit St. Petersburg, Fenerbahce, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, and now Lyon. Benfica is willing to let Anderson go, but for a sum of €2m, which, while coffee money to Lyon, is quite a bit to Cruzeiro (sorry, AJ).

Anderson himself stated that he would love to play for Lyon while Cruzeiro’s officials have admitted that now that Lyon involved, it will be hard for them to complete Anderson’s transfer. Then again, that’s what everyone said about Willian, who is now signing for Shaktar Donetsk.

I wish I knew more about Anderson to comment on him as a player, since of the few Benfica games I have seen, I paid more attention to Nelson and Simao. Perhaps someone from the Portugal Offside or the Brazil Offside could elaborate.

Name: Lilian Thuram
Club: Barcelona
Age: 35

It’s well known that Aulas is a big fan of this player and would love to have the captain of the France National Team play for his club. Furthermore, with so many senior players absent from injury, Thuram’s experience and leadership skills would be welcome in Lyon’s time of uncertainty. He’s already familiar with most of the players and some members of Lyon’s technical staff, so it would not be difficult for him to adjust.

He would also be willing to take a back seat if necessary, and considering the fact that he wants to retire soon, he won’t be demanding a four year contract.

However, his wage is high even by Barcelona’s standards (he earns €5m per year), and while Lyon could afford that over a short period of time (one year, max), any longer and the club will be in trouble. The best option would be if Aulas could get Thuram on loan, but that is very unlikely. And since he will be retiring soon, he may prefer to do it at Barcelona, where he will have a greater chance of European glory. And there he gets to have Thierry Henry as a teammate. As it stands, Lacombe has denied Lyon will be pursuing Thuram actively.

Name: Mario Yepes
Club: Paris Saint Germain
Age: 31

One of the more temperamental defenders in L1, he’s a decent choice, though under new manager Paul Le Guen, he’s been pushed to the bench. But he’s one the highest earners in the league, so it’s not like Lyon would be making any huge savings off of him. PSG are also reluctant to sell their players to a direct rival (though I would argue that PSG is not a direct rival at the moment).

At any rate, Lacombe has said that Yepes does not interest him, which is probably Lyon’s final stance. Perrin does like Yepes, but we all know that the word of the manager has little weight these days.