No new signings, huge debts? Top club faces €100m bill for failed transfers | OneFootball

Having narrowly escaped forced relegation in the summer, Olympique Lyon now apparently faces new financial troubles. The French top club reportedly owes over 100 million euros for players who were never purchased.

According to 'L'Equipe', OL borrowed the money from various factoring companies. In factoring, a club transfers a claim to a financial institution and obtains a needed loan there.

With the money, according to 'L'Equipe', a total of five players from the Brazilian club Botafogo were to be bought between July 2024 and March 2025. These players are Igor Jesus, Luiz Henrique, Thiago Almada, Jair Cunha, and Jefferson Savarino. For Igor Jesus alone, the club is said to repay 41.5 million euros.

The crazy part: Lyon was unable to register any of these players due to a transfer ban, which is why the transfers never took place. Some of the players had already signed contracts with Lyon, while others had only moved to Botafogo to then transfer to Lyon, as both clubs share the same majority owner, John Textor. Ultimately, none of them came.

Botafogo no longer owns them, except for Savarino. Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha went to Nottingham Forest, Luiz Henrique to Zenit St. Petersburg, and Almada to Atlético Madrid.

However, the debts of over 100 million euros to the factoring companies remain, which are now being demanded. Given the precarious situation last summer and the narrowly avoided forced relegation, this is unlikely to aid Lyon in its financial recovery.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 ALEX MARTIN - AFP or licensors