When it comes to selling clubs, specialized in supplying new talent to the greats of Europe, the teams that usually come to the fore are Benfica, Porto and Sevilla, who have been selling their stars for years when they had signed them. for very little money and hardly anyone knew them. But the truth is that to this group we would have to add Olympique Lyon, which if they had kept their great players in the last eight years would have a great team with four world champions.
Lloris
The Tottenham goalkeeper and captain of the French national team played four seasons at Lyon between 2008 and 2012 until he moved to Tottenham, where he is still currently. Lyon signed him at the age of 22 from Nice for 8.5 million and ended up selling him to the English team for 12.5. His record in clubs is not as extensive as his fame precedes. He has only won one French Cup and one Super Cup with Lyon and reached the 2019 Champions League final with Tottenham. With the selection he was the man in charge of lifting the last World Cup.
Diakhaby-Umtiti-Mendy
The defensive line that Lyon could have maintained completely migrated to LaLiga. Umtiti was the first to arrive when in the summer of 2016 he signed for Barcelona, who paid 25 million euros for him. His first campaigns at Can Barça were exceptional and in 2018 he was consecrated as one of the best center-backs in the world (he started in the 2018 World Cup that France won), but injuries and other extra-sports problems have led him to a drift of what he did not it is clear if it will come out at some point. For its part, Mendy, whom Real Madrid signed for 48 million two seasons ago, is fully established in the white team, in which he is the undisputed holder, while Diakhaby, who came to Valencia for 10 million three years ago, has already played more than 100 games for the Che team.
Tolisso-Tousart-Ndombélé-Fekir
Two world champions are part of this fictional Lyon midfield: Tolisso and Fekir. The midfielder went to Bayern four seasons ago for 41 million euros, but never settled in the starting eleven of the BavariansAlthough he was very important in the rotations of the German team, with which he has won everything. This year contract ends and everything indicates that he will leave Munich. For its part, Fekir is a true star at Betis, where he is one of the most outstanding players in LaLiga. The Betic arrived in Spain by surprise for 20 million since years ago it was speculated that he would end up in a great of the Premier such as Liverpool or Arsenal.
Ndombélé remains to date the most expensive sale in the history of Lyon, which let him go to Tottenham in exchange for 60 million euros. When he got to the team spur, this came from playing the Champions League final and everything pointed to the arrival of the midfielder would give the team a bonus that would make both grow, but so far their performance has been quite irregular. Finally, Lucas Tousart went to Hertha Berlin in 2020 for 25 million when the German team, in an effort of its new investors, opted to spend money on young promises of European football. The experiment did not go as well as expected and Tousart, who was aiming to be one of the best midfielders in France, has fallen a bit by the wayside.
Lacazette-Mariano-Memphis
Lyon’s lead starts have been among the most talked about in the last decade, as is often the case with everything that has to do with the goal. In the case of Memphis, the Dutchman ended his contract last summer and went to Barcelona for free after being the great star of the team in recent years. Mariano made a round trip to Real Madrid after spending only one season at Lyon, in which he scored 21 goals in 45 games. It was a good deal for Lyon, who signed him for 8.5 million and sold him to the same club for 21.
Lacazette was the top scorer in Ligue 1 in the 2014/15 season without being a pure forward. Two seasons later he went to Arsenal for 53 million euros, but as a whole gunner It was never as decisive as in Lyon. Even so, he has had great games and at times, he has returned to the French team. In four seasons in the Premier he has scored 50 goals.