Mass Exodus out of Lyon?

By: Inara | April 5th, 2007

So on the heels of another “failed” season, transfer speculation is in full bloom. And as usual, nearly all of Lyon’s squad has been linked with other clubs.

Lyon’s happy family…on the brink of divorce?

The two highest profile rumors involve Eric Abidal and Florent Malouda, Lyon’s left-back and left-winger, respectively. Combined, they certainly are one of the most lethal pairings out there, and it’s their chemistry which has caused them to become starters together on the French NT. But for some reason, no club has had the bright idea to buy them together.

Abidal’s desperate pleas to Barcelona must have been heard by even the deafest Blaugrana fan, and I can’t imagine Txiki Beguiristáin not noticing. However, Lyon has stated that Abidal was purchased from Lille for 10 million Euros, and that his value has doubled to about 20-25 million. Now it’s up to Barcelona to bargain. Abidal doesn’t want to stay, and Lyon won’t fight to keep him, especially when they have the very promising Nadir Belhadj waiting to take over. Belhadj, by the way, was a mid-season signing from relegation team Sedan. To sweeten the deal, Lyon allowed Belhadj to return to Sedan for the rest of the season on loan to help them fight relegation.

Though given Abidal’s performance for Lyon this season, I wish we had loaned him to Sedan and kept Belhadj instead.

According to Skysports, Malouda would only leave if he can find a better club than Lyon, but that there aren’t many better clubs than Lyon nowadays. He goes on to say that it might not be a good idea to leave before Euro 2008, that he admires Juventus and Arsenal, and is not reassured by all the murky going-ons at Chelsea. Malouda has also attracted interest from Manchester United, Fiorentina, and Liverpool, who are supposedly preparing a 13 million pound bid for his services.

Though honestly, I don’t think Malouda really wants to leave. The two clubs he listed, Juventus and Arsenal, are quite different than what he said earlier in the year (Milan and Chelsea). Lyon’s asking price for him will be pretty high, especially since he just signed a new contract last fall. It definitely will be around 18-20 million Euros, and as everyone knows, Lyon isn’t shy about placing high prices on its players. Overpriced? Probably. But then what player of proven quality isn’t overpriced these days?

Lyon doesn’t need to sell him, so they don’t care if their asking price isn’t met. And unlike Abidal, Malouda doesn’t really want to leave.

End conclusion: Abidal is as good as gone while Malouda will most likely stay at Lyon until after Euro 2008.

Other transfer gossip:

* Cris and Anthony Réveillère have reaffirmed their desire to stay at Lyon. They are both happy here and want to continue pushing Lyon further into Europe.

* Milan Baros has also confirmed that he won’t be leaving this summer. Strange, didn’t he just arrive three months ago?

* Former Lyon captain Claudio Caçapa, who has been at the club for seven years, was given until March 31st to respond to Aulas’s offer of an extension for one year. Since there has been no announcement by the club, it’s probably safe to assume that Caçapa has not extended his contract. His partnership with Cris in the past two campaigns made Lyon one of the stingiest when it came to conceding goals. Unfortunately, he sustained an injury to his knee this past summer, and by the time he recovered, his place had been taken over permanently by the promising Sebastian Squillaci. Two clubs have made inquiries about Caçapa: Fiorentina and Olympiakos.

* On OL’s website, Remy Vercoutre and Jeremy Berthod have stated that they will wait until the summer before “discussing” their future at Lyon. Berthod wants more playing time, but if both Abidal and Malouda depart, he may not have to leave for another club. Vercoutre has done a great job at being Coupet’s back up, and he’s waited very patiently for him to retire. But in the light of Coupet’s request for an extension, Vercoutre’s realized that it might be better to seek new pastures. He’s 26 and quite experienced (he has quite a few CL matches under his belt), and besides his gaffe during the CdL final last week, he’s performed well. Lyon will probably allow him to leave, and they may either recall Remy Riou, their keeper who is on loan at Lorient, or they may buy another one (Hugo Lloris of Nice is the name most often heard). Both are goalkeepers for France’s U-21 squad and are considered future prospects of France’s NT.

* According to the ever unreliable Italian media, Lyon has been linked with Nice’s Ederson. That would be nice if that were true, though we are supposedly competing with Juventus. Ederson is touted as being a joga bonito player, and Lyon could use one of those.

* Lyon is watching Middlesbrough starlet Nathan Porritt. He’s a seventeen year old winger who hasn’t signed a professional deal yet, making him extra desirable to a whole host of clubs.

* Alou Diarra has said that he will be seeking talks with Lyon management about his place at the club. Basically it’s “play me or let me leave.” Again, I’m not sure how likely it is that Diarra will get more play time next year. Toulalan is now unquestionably the starter, and with both Fabio Santos and Diarra fighting it out for the bench spot, it seems that someone is going to leave.

* Kim Kallstrom keeps playing down rumors of interest from EPL clubs. I don’t know whether to be happy because he is denying wanting to go there or suspicious because there are rumors afloat in the first place.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll post information about Lyon’s match this weekend with Valenciennes. I’ll also post more on Houllier’s future at the club.