Ligue 1 special: Jean-Michel Aulas keeps his word with quiet activity in the transfer window
President of seven-time French Ligue 1 giants http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130, Jean-Michel Aulas had warned well before the start of this summer’s transfer window that he will not be looking to spend lavishly on the transfer window.
The Lyon supremo has definitely not gone back on his words and never deviated from his strategy when the transfer window opened. Just 4.8 million Euros were spent on new recruits this summer.
Jean-Michel Aulas had set the tone for the club’s new policy following the appointment of Remi Garde as the club’s new coach. Gone were the days when Les Gones coaches enjoyed considerable amount of cash in the kitty to spend lavishly on players who would
help Lyon achieve their lofty ambitions.
In the summer of 2010, Lyon spent 28.5 million Euros, 72.5 million Euros in 2009 and 57.8 million Euros in 2008. However, the recent two summer transfer windows in which Lyon spent so lavishly never helped the club’s cause as Lyon failed to win any silverware.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Congo-c2875 international. However, Auxerre and Lyon never came to terms on a transfer as Auxerre wanted at
least 10 million Euros for the defensive midfielder.
Patience always pays off
Lyon were in the market for a new defensive midfielder following the departure of France international Jeremy Toulalan to La Liga side Malaga. Though adding a new defensive midfielder was the club’s priority this summer, Aulas took his time and made his
reinforcement on the final day of the transfer window.
A shrewd bit of business might have been executed by Aulas who paid Ligue 2 side Le Havre just 1.8 million Euros for Gueïda Fofana. The 20-year-old defensive midfielder is one of the hottest prospects in French football and is an excellent addition to the
Lyon squad that is looking younger than the Les Gones squads of the bygone seasons.
The arrival of the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 Under-20 international at the Stade Gerland might not pay dividends that quickly as expected but at the age of just 20; one can expect the youngster to become only stronger and better with each passing week.
Furthermore, the arrival of Fofana would give another Lyon prospect Maxime Gonalons a lot of support and competition throughout the 2011/2012 campaign in which Les Gones would be competing in the Champions League as well.
Remi Garde would be looking to use both youngsters wisely and could also consider both Frenchmen to start games together in a formation that best suits the duo.
Digging deep for a young defender
Defence was another area that needed to be looked at and Remi Garde was the one responsible for signing Bakary Kone from Guingamp for just 2 million Euros. The 23-year-old http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Burkina-Faso-c2862 international has shown his importance to the squad and in just two league
games, has managed to score a goal.
Though Kone shows signs of over-exuberance at times, this is something that the youngster will learn to contain after playing regularly at the top level.
Shrewd business done by a wily supremo
Though Lyon lost Bosnian international http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Miralem-Pjanic-c25984 in the last days of the transfer window, the club has made profit for the young midfielder’s sale. Aulas’ shrewd thinking in handling transfer affairs might not take Lyon to a whole new level this season
but Les Gones will have a chance of securing their future which could be bright if all the prospects fully realise the early potential that has been seen.
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