Memphis Depay is linked with a move to Barcelona and Lyon sporting director Juninho admits the player might be allowed to leave this summer.
Lyon might be forced to sell some of their top stars this summer. Memphis Depay, Moussa Dembele and Houssem Aouar are all in line to leave the club.
Les Gones impressed on the continental front last season. Against all odds, they made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. They lost to eventual winners Bayern Munich but can be proud of their efforts regardless. They beat Juventus and Manchester City before their exit and even got the tag ‘giant-slayers’.
On the domestic front, it was not the same. An unexpected end to the Ligue 1 season saw Lyon finish in seventh place. For the first time in 24 years, they will miss out on European football. The financial implications of that means their top stars in Depay, Aouar and Dembele are all up for sale.
Aouar has been linked with a few sides as the likes of Arsenal, City and Juventus have all shown interest. Dembele also has suitors of his own and has been strongly linked with Manchester United and Juventus.
With less than a year left on his contract, Depay is the most likely to leave and is already tipped to join his compatriot Ronald Koeman at Barcelona.
Latest comments from Lyon Sporting director Juninho hints that the Dutchman could indeed be on his way out of the club.
“It is not planned to sell Houssem, Depay and Moussa at the same time,” he told the club’s official website.
“If that happened, we would look for players of the same level on the market.”
“The departure of the three together is not planned. [But] they attract the market.”
“There have been clubs in for Houssem for a long time. Moussa? He is a real goalscorer. There are not many options like him in the market.”
“Depay was unfortunately injured. We tried to extend his contract, the president did everything but he did not want to discuss during this period. In a year, he will be free.
“If we lose quality players, and three is almost impossible, [then] we already have names to replace them. Players of the same level.”
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