FEATURE | Lyon’s winding road to replacing Leeds’ Lucas Perri | OneFootball

All things considered, this summer has featured a goalkeeping merry-go-round in France. AS Monaco have signed Lukas Hradecky for €3m, with the Finnish veteran arriving from Bayer Leverkusen, whilst OGC Nice have sold Marcin Bulka to Saudi outfit NEOM for €15m, replacing him with Stade de Reims’ Yehvann Diouf.

FC Nantes have filled Albon Lafont’s void by bringing in Alexis Mirbach from FC Metz, Hervé Koffi has reinforced SCO Angers in goal, Mory Diaw has traded Clermont Foot for Le Havre AC, whilst FC Lorient have added Bingourou Kamara from Pau. Meanwhile, one of the finest goalkeeper in the division — Lille OSC’s Lucas Chevalier, has made the move to Champions League winners and Club World Cup finalists Paris Saint-Germain, with Les Parisiens moving on from Gianluigi Donnarumma as he enters the final year of his contract.

However, it’s fair to say that no team has experienced more turmoil in the goalkeeper position than Lyon. After being provisionally relegated to Ligue 2 due to financial concerns, Lyon were forced to work against the clock and erase their mountain of debt in order to win their appeal and remain in the French top division. They’ve parted ways with veteran attackers Said Benrahma and Alexandre Lacazette, both joining NEOM. They’ve sold star creative playmaker Rayan Cherki to Manchester City for €36.5m, and they’ve also transferred starting goalkeeper Lucas Perri to Leeds United.

Lyon explore route to cancel Turner deal

Lyon initially signed Matt Turner from Nottingham Forest to fill the gap in between the sticks, acquiring him for €8m. However, before even signing the American goalkeeper, Lyon sought to renege on the deal, whose transfer was brokered by compatriot and American chairman John Textor before he was forced to depart his post and was replaced by Michelle Kang.

Les Gones hired legal counsel to explore potential avenues of getting out of the deal, but they failed to come up with any solution, with Forest chairman Evangelos Marinakis refusing to budge. As such, Lyon were forced to complete the transfer before loaning him out to MLS side New England Revolution. That deal was completed without OL even announcing his arrival on their social media accounts.

Turner emerged as one of the best shot-stoppers in Major League Soccer with New England before making the move to London in 2022. Over the next three years, he bounced around from Arsenal to Crystal Palace to Forest, failing to consolidate a starting spot in any of those destinations.

Greif set to join in €4m deal from Mallorca

Whilst Turner will be looking to get back to basics in Massachusetts and reclaim his starting spot in goal for the US Men’s National Team, Lyon will be hoping that their incoming recruit gets the job done in goal. Lyon are closing in on a deal for 28-year-old Slovakian goalkeeper Dominik Greif. Having joined Mallorca in 2021, Greif spent his first three seasons in Spain biding his time on the bench before finally consolidating a starting spot in 2024/25.

Although Rémy Descamps is expected to start Lyon’s league opener vs Lens, Greif is nevertheless set to be drafted into the starting line-up for their second match vs. Metz.

Does Greif have what it takes to fill Lucas Perri’s lofty footsteps in goal? Les Gones supporters will certainly be hoping so.

GFFN | Zach Lowy