Corentin Tolisso
Corentin Tolisso
Aston Villa will be active once more this summer transfer window - and the developments which follow the 30th June date will be interesting to say the least. Villa's financial issues with PSR have eased somewhat and Moussa Diaby and their Champions League cash.
Still, there may be movement before next week's deadline, by which point many clubs around England and beyond will have to have ensured their books are in order so as not to be at risk of breaching those Profitability and Sustainability Rules and consequently face punishment.
were busy with ins and outs last summer, bringing in the likes of Ross Barkley, Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen and Jaden Philogene, while selling Diaby and Douglas Luiz. In January, they sold Jhon Duran and Diego Carlos and replaced them with short-term loan signings.
Villa are, of course, financially healthy, if not in a position to spend freely. The PSR limitations are well documented, but they could yet have wriggle room this summer to recruit and top up the squad if it was monetarily viable. In France, there is set to be an opportunity to take advantage of.
In November, Olympique Lyonnais - one of Ligue 1's most prestigious clubs historically - were ordered in a hearing to remedy their financial position, after it was uncovered that they, or rather their ownership group Eagle Football Group, were in as much as £422m in debt. They were given a provisional demotion to Ligue 2 and banned from signing players in January, but they were likely have to sell off their prized assets to substantially reduce their debt.
News emerged on Tuesday evening that OL had indeed been relegated to Ligue 2, a decision made by the French football authorities which Lyon themselves - who qualified again for Europe this past season - described as 'incomprehensible'. It came in the same week that John Textor, owner of Eagle Football Group, sold his shares in Crystal Palace for around £190m.
Lyon have already had to sell Said Benrahma to Neom in the Saudi Pro League, and star man Rayan Cherki to Manchester City for £34m. They parted last year with Jake O'Brien who moved to Everton, Mamadou Sarr who left for Strasbourg and Maxence Caqueret who joined Como. They've also released Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Tagliafico.
There are plenty of names you'd recognise in the Lyon squad currently if you were a Premier League fan - Ainsley Maitland-Niles is out there, as are Nemanja Matic and also former Villan Jordan Veretout - but also some exciting, young, talented attackers who Villa could seek out and replenish their forward line with for a suitable price.
Ernest Nuamah, the Ghanaian forward, ditched Fulham last summer after breaking down in tears in his medical and disappearing to return to France, indicating that he wished to remain in Lyon. The former Nordsjaelland forward is only 21 and hasn't scored the goals he'd have liked since moving to France but remains a prospect of whom much is expected.
Midfielder Corentin Tolisso is surely set to leave, too; the 2018 World Cup winner has been back at Lyon since 2022 having initially left for Bayern Munich. The midfielder has previously been linked with Brighton and also moves to Turkey. He won't be kept on if an offer comes in this summer.
Then there is Malick Fofana, who is still only 20. He has become something of a success story in Lyon colours, scoring 11 goals and producing six assists in 41 appearances this season across domestic competitions and in the .
Lyon signed him from Gent in Belgium in January of last year but he has already excelled in France and has been called up to represent Belgium. He is valued at around €30m and hopes to eventually follow idol Jeremy Doku to England, being linked already with Liverpool and Chelsea.
What should Villa do in the summer window? Have your say
adidas Aston Villa range - how to get yours!
Aston Villa have announced that they are selling a new range of fashion items that fans are going to be clamouring to get hold of ahead of the new season - including a limited edition of the iconic adidas Samba range.
The Villa colours are displayed on the trainers and they also show off the Villa badge.
You can also find an adidas DNA hoody which comes in simple Villa colours and a low key traditional adidas design.
The same design can be found on classic adidas track top on offer, this is the type of track top that fans love to wear -
The DNA range continues with a claret and blue t-shirt - , and on the training pants which can also be matched with any of the items -
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