Pierre Sage coy on the arrival of Thiago Almada at Lyon this winter | OneFootball

In an interview with ESPN, Botafogo attacking midfielder Thiago Almada (23) confirmed that he would sign for Olympique Lyonnais in the winter transfer window. However, when asked about the quotes of the Argentinian international, OL manager Pierre Sage remained coy.

The former Velez playmaker signed for Eagle Football Group’s Botafogo in the summer transfer window for a fee of €20m with the promise of an eventual move to Les Gones in the winter window. Almada’s six months in Brazil have been positive. Fogo were crowned “Champions of America” after beating Pachuca in the final of the Copa Libertadores.

Despite the potential prospect of playing in the newly reformatted Club World Cup in the summer, this has not dented the World Cup winner’s desire to move to France in the winter window and represent Lyon. Almada’s intentions have been made rather clear, but Sage didn’t sound so sure about the completion of the deal.

Reacting to the quotes, the OL boss said, “It’s quite surprising that a player would commit to this kind of position. Now, I imagine he was expressing a wish, this does not have the value of official information. Only the clubs can provide official information on these aspects. I’m waiting for the information, to see if it becomes official or not. He’s a player who has qualities similar to Rayan Cherki or Saïd Benrahma. That would always bring us a slightly more technical touch in what we do, with control in the idea of ​​having the ball and impacting our opponents. We would consider it good news.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith