Wednesday 24 December 2008

Lyon wants to resign Abidal next summer

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Olympique Lyon is interested in a return of Barcelona left back defender and French international Eric Abidal (29) at the end of this season (read more here).

Lyon manager Claude Puel, who worked before with Abidal at Monaco and Lille between 2001 and 2004, would have urged his club to resign the Frenchman. The French champions have planned to ask for Abidal a first time during the Champions League tie with Barcelona.

Asked about the continuous rumours about a return to his former club, Abidal, whose current contract expires in 2011, has said in an interview with Catalan sports paper Sport that he could well play again for Lyon one day, although this is not the time:

"I cannot rule out returning to Lyon sooner or later. Lyon will always be Lyon... It' s a natural thing, human, there's loyalty involved. I know the club well, the president, the coach, Claude Puel, who believed in me when I was a young player. Lyon was the only club I wanted to avoid in the Champions League draw.


I know the door is open there, but at this moment it's not possible. I'm feeling very good at Barcelona and I don't think about leaving the club. I actually never thought one second about leaving Barcelona. I know where I am and what I want to achieve with this club."

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has meanwhile said in an interview with French sports paper L'Equipe earlier this week that his club is planning to make serious investments during the coming years:

"There has been decided that our priority is to come closer to the European top. So for the next three years we will not worry too much about the financial results. The sporting results will be the priority and we will try to get better whatever it costs. It's a change of strategy given the current circumstances. We have the means to make the difference in this period of global crisis. We will invest. It's the coach who will decide, he has the responsibility to make the best choices."

Read more:
Milan interested in Abidal
First contact with CSKA on left winger Zhirkov
Lyon interested in Abidal return

11 comments:

Barca nerd-fan said...

I don't think we are desperate for new signings, but if we are, we shold go for these players:

GK: Asenjo, Ochoa

LB: Emanuelson, Armand Traore

LW: Silva, Arshavin, Capel, Aguero, Benzema (Benzema and Aguero aren't natural LW but can play in that position)

Others: Cesc Fabregas, Diego

Anonymous said...

well I think we need some signings..
GK - only a sub Asenjo (young and competitive for first slot)
DL - Zhirkov or Emanuelson
MC - Cesc or Diego ( but i want to see Thiago Alcantra next year)
AML - Ribery ( IS A MUST ) or Aguero! visca el barca!!!

Anonymous said...

What is everybody talking about Emanuelson as elft back, he's not playing there anymore! He's a midfield guy. Defensively he's extremly bad. Some kind of Marcelo. He's really not Barcelona quality, drop it.

kamikaze kontiki said...

Arshavin will be very useful on the left fwd position and he is versatile enough to fit into the system and play in other positions.
Zhirkov will have to play as a sub and I m not sure if he will be ready for that right now being at the peak of his prowess. Wat about some back-up for Alves and a physical presence in the striker position. A goalkeeper!! i get the shivers every time a back pass is made to Valdes. he is not too great on the crosses and only shows good shot-stopping when in-form. however, he relies heavily on confidence and he is on a high right now so maybe an end of the season buy will be preferable.

kamikaze kontiki said...

Also an extra defender to cover for Marquez might come handy. Pique isn't convincing.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion we only need to make 2 transfers next summer. A backup for Abidal because Sylvinho isn't as good any more. And a backup for Alves, I'm really worried for our tactical setup if he get's injured, however I can't think of anyone, maybe some young talent.

If we are to make any more transfers some players have to leave.

Anonymous said...

if Abidal goes I hope we sign Juan Manuel Vargas and Nadir Belhadj. You'd think one of them must be good enough to start.

eto'o + abidal = Benzema ?

Anonymous said...

I wouldent count on arshavin going to barca he has a bigger chance of going to arsenal wenger got him allright after cesc got injured

Anonymous said...

Hy,
I say buy 3-4 players

1. Diego
2. left winger Aguero it might do
3. Zhirkov in the lb
if Henry,Sylvinho,Abidal,Guddi go
then we will need a realy good lw exapmle (Silva,Ribery).
that will do because in my opinion:
2 GK(Valdez,Pinto)
5 CB (Puyol,Marquez,Cacérés,Pique,
Henrique)and Puyol can play in rb and Cacérés can play in lb, so we can cover alves with puyol and we have Cacérés in lb with Zhirkov
2 lb (Zhirkov,Cacérés)
2 rb (Alves,Puyol)
2 DM (Toure,Keita,)
4 CM (Xavi,Iniesta,Diego,Busquets)
2 LW(Silva/Ribery/Aguero,Henry)but if Henry goes we'll gonna need Aguero and Silva/Ribery.
2 RW (Messi,Gai)
3-4 ST(Eto'o,Bojan,Henry,Aguero)

I think that will do but,???

write back!

Merry Cristmas!

Anonymous said...

well these are who i would like to see:

Gk: Asenjo, Ochoa, Diego Lopez or Kameni??
Rb: we could try for man uniteds young brazilian rafael he looks really good an alves could tutor him.
Lb: people may not agree but i think pep could work his magic an make gareth bale of tottenham a top left back hes young, quick good tackler gets up an down and can belt a free kick in. if not him
either;
gael clichy (arsenal)
or maybe belhadj of pompey???
cb: were covered pique will improve an get better, an henrique is due back next season aswell as milito soon!.
dm: covered.
mc/amc: possibly cesc but not yet give it another 2/3 seasons let him see he wont win anything at arsenal an his natural home is calling.
aml: aguero, aguero, aguero i can only think of this lil wizard him an messi wud be awesome they link so well, if not then maybe arshavin but not for £25m,
ribery altho i like would be way too expensive when i think maybe for the same money we could get a better an proven aguero.
fwd:mm tough one, eto'o renewal is key but i would like a big target man striker for when we face tough teams with big defenders someone like benzema or adebayor would of been good but i think adriano of inter would be perfect i know hes had a bad time in italy but i think hes gone a bit like dinho did where he looses motivation etc an a new place an change an with peps tutalage he could cum good again an wouldnt cost much no more than €18m euro.

Anonymous said...

GK= Asenjo
LB= Zhirkov
RB= I think pep can put Puyol to fill the position if Alves is absent, then put Caceres in Puyol's position
MF= the replacement for Xavi, maybe Hernanes or Gourcuff
LWF= SIlva and RvP maybe great.
Silva would be a starter, then if we hit the wall, we can substitute him with v.Persie to tear their defence system apart
CF= we need a tower-like striker to head crosses. Maybe Cruz or Luca Toni will be great

Out:
Guddy
Henry
Jorquera
Sylvinho

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