As previously announced by new club president and majority shareholder John Textor, this summer will see major organisational changes at Lyon, starting with the arrival of a new Head of Recruitment in Matthieu Louis-Jean, formerly Chief Scout at Marseille.
As a result, the incumbent in that role, Bruno Cheyrou, will leave Lyon and take up a position at Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings and work on “player advocacy”, as indicated by L’Équipe. However, before leaving, Cheyrou had been working on the team’s potential transfer targets for this summer.
Notably, the former midfielder had drawn up a list of potential free agents that the club – who have not qualified for European competition next season – could sign, according to Foot Mercato this afternoon. The list includes a host of surprising names, including Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, who Cheyrou wanted to partner with Alexandre Lacazette up front – instead, the 31-year-old is likely to move to Saudi Arabia.
Among the other players on the scrapped list is Youri Tielemans, who is set to move to a Premier League side after suffering relegation with Leicester. Former Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka and Roma’s Chris Smalling feature on the list too, as well as Daichi Kamada, who is set to join Milan. None of the aforementioned players are likely to join Lyon, with Louis-Jean set to head the club’s recruitment policy – in tandem with Textor – once he arrives.
GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin
