Lyon provisional relegation: How did French giants with American ownership end up in financial chaos? |Max Sporty|

Olympique Lyonnais was temporarily relegated to Ligue 2 next summer unless their finances improve dramatically with a transfer ban now in place and the club’s wage bill under strict supervision by French soccer’s financial watchdog the DNCG (direction nationale du controle de gestion). The mission between now and the end of the current season is simple: sell as many players as possible for as much money as possible while trying to remain competitive enough to qualify for continental competition via either Ligue 1 or the Coupe de France. OL’s debuts are now believed to be more than $530 million and Les Gones are a shadow of the big club they once were when they flickered for the Championnat de France in Europe.

So, how did things get so bad?

The proud history of OL

Lyon are seven-time French champions won Ligue 1 from 2002-08 with that sevenfold success, which even Qatar-backed Paris Saint-Germain failed to do in almost 15 years of trying. OL also boast five Coupe de France titles and have been to two UEFA Champions League semi-finals with the most recent of those coming in 2020. Les Gones translates into English as The Kids and that nickname is fitting given that Lyon for years boasted of France and probably even. Europe’s strongest youth academy system with an amazing array of names coming through the ranks to complement some seasoned talent at senior level. Current examples of pure self-made heroes in Pierre Sage’s current squad include Alexandre Lacazette, Corentin Tolisso, Maxence Caqueret and Rayan Cherki.

The sharp decline of Lyon

OL have not been among the best in France for many years with two expensive years out of Europe in total between the 2022 UEFA Europa League and the current UEL campaign exacerbating what has already been a barren spell since the Qatari takeover of PSG. In fact, since Lyon’s final Ligue 1 triumph in 2008, Girondins de Bordeaux, Olympique de Marseille, Lille OSC and Montpellier HSC have all won the Championnat crown thus blaming the demise of Les Gones on the rise of Les Parisiens — as some trying to do -. is not that simple and actually inaccurate. The youth academy used to be the club’s strength, but its role in helping to offset the years that followed such an unprecedented period of domestic hegemony has seen that talent pipeline essentially become OL’s means of survival in the modern game with players being sold in increasingly young ages before they can. even really made an impact on the first team, which has always been a key feature of the Lyon set-up.

The decreased transfer power of OL

Formerly a model club in terms of smart football business, Lyon fell asleep at the wheel during the height of European transfer dealings and spent heavily to close the gap on increased domestic competition around the time Qatar entered the scene with PSG. This has had a crippling effect on Les Gones, who for years have been targeted by comparatively smaller clubs in richer circumstances from leagues such as the Premier League to pick up the best talent at fairly affordable rates – the signing of Chelsea’s Malo Gusto is the perfect example of this. OL’s last example of really successful links with South America which used to be another source of successful business was probably Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United. The proposed arrival of Thiago Almada via Botafogo, owned by Eagle Football Group, is now in serious financial doubt and of dubious origin.

The economic realities of French football

Another brutal reality for Lyon and all other professional French football clubs is that Ligue 1 has suffered a sharp and alarming fall from grace. Le Championnat has been devastated by a succession of failed or diminished television rights deals with bad blood between traditional broadcaster Canal+ and the LFP (Professional Football League). This damage happened at the worst possible time when COVID-19 hit and even PSG with Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi struggled to keep French football in the traditional top five as results on the continent also suffered. The LFP as well as many club owners past and present are guilty of appalling mismanagement who simply did not understand what was needed to modernize and grow not only Ligue 1 but also its clubs and most importantly its finances. That Ligue 1 is performing well in UEFA competitions right now is one of the very few positives along with the constant supply of top-quality talent that makes some of the main heavyweights with big guns PSG inferior.

Jean-Michel Classes

OL’s former owner of nearly 40 years was Jean-Michel Aulas and while he deserves huge credit for building Lyon into the powerhouse they were, he must also bear some responsibility for allowing complacency to set in ahead of the club’s belated sale to John Textor. . The Frenchman is now distancing himself from a comeback and focusing on women’s football, which he has always championed. Under Aulas, the women of OL became a force that replaced even the men’s team over time in terms of domestic and certainly continental success yet was one of the first assets that Textor sought to sell away upon arrival. Aulas built Lyon into something great and significant beyond the borders of France but also arguably overstayed his welcome when a younger approach could have made a difference and supported Les Gones to avoid this heartbreaking current scenario.

John Textor

The arrival of the American owner and his Eagle Football Group in 2022 with an initial minority, which later grew to a majority and caused a bitter and damaging spat between Textor and Aulas before the French’s tearful farewell coincided with massive financial problems. It cannot be disputed that Lyon were in a bad way when the deal was done as very expensive — if any — French clubs could boast respectable finances then and certainly cannot now. Textor’s plan to save his OL investment appears to be selling his 45% stake in Crystal Palace and other Eagle Football Group portfolio players such as Botafogo and RWD Molenbeek to bring in much-needed funds.

So, what happens if that Palace stake, which is a minority stake and therefore less attractive, doesn’t sell soon? The American claimed that the DNCG meeting went well only for the body itself to undermine him just hours later and a hastily arranged press conference the next morning properly allayed fears. It was not allowed to be aired as it happened, which is most likely due to the fact that he had already publicly embarrassed himself by getting numbers wrong, having done something similar a few months ago. Based on what was said in that press conference, the plan appears to be to sell around six players, however Lyon’s attempts to sell last summer have already failed with several players having moves brutally forced upon them and the blamed for the club’s finances if they didn’t. agree to go Rayan Cherki will remain the main name but expect to read a lot about Malick Fofana and Maxence Caqueret as well.

Is OL too big to fail?

No, they are not. Just ask six-time champions Bordeaux, who are now in France’s semi-professional fourth tier after losing their professional status, or even 10-time French kings AS Saint-Etienne, who were in dire straits before the arrival this summer of Kilmer Sports Ventures, which saved them from possible financial collapse like Bordeaux but also two-time winners and youth development powerhouse FC Sochaux Montbeliard in recent years. Textor can bleat about French soccer and his own conspiracy theories as much as he likes, but the undeniable truth is that he doesn’t — and still doesn’t — understand what he’s gotten himself into. The most important question now is whether one of the great monuments of French football will pay for its origin at an absolutely critical moment in the long and storied history of the club.