It's the big clearance sale this winter in Lyon. Demoted as a precautionary measure to Ligue 2 by the DNCG, Olympique Lyonnais must absolutely sell this winter. Quality players could be sold off, executives should not be kept and nuggets to be polished could leave the Rhône this winter.
Five clubs interested in Mahamadou Diawara
French and foreign clubs are aware of this situation and should take advantage of it to make possible good deals. In any case, one OL player is already starting to attract the attention of many teams: Mahamadou Diawara.
The 19-year-old midfielder, who has only played two Ligue 1 matches this season, is of interest to many people ahead of the winter transfer window. Celtic, Nantes, Lens, Valencia and Villarreal would be seduced by his profile and his potential, according to Turkish journalist Ekrem Konur.
OL: what starting price for Diawara?
The latter even specifies that these groups would be ready to make an offer of more than 5 million euros to secure his services in January. Although he has played very little professionally with Les Gones, Mahamadou Diawara nonetheless remains a great hope for the club but he is still hampered by tough competition at Olympique Lyonnais.
Note that in this matter, Villarreal would be all in, according to information from Fichajes. It would be one of the priorities of the next transfer window for the Yellow Submarine. The Spanish media speaks of an amount which would be between 10 and 15 million euros to obtain the signature of the Lyon midfielder.
Lens and Nantes already on the move this summer
Concerning the two French clubs, FC Nantes and RC Lens were already interested in the profile of Mahamadou Diawara this summer. The Canaries had made a loan offer with an option to buy, refused by the Gones, while the Sang et Or had checked his name, without taking action.
Nantes and Lens would therefore like to try their chances again this winter with Olympique Lyonnais, who are almost obliged to sell. Mahamadou Diawara not being an important element of the group this season, his departure seems very likely.
Can Lens and Nantes sign Mahamadou Diawara?
However, these sums advanced discredit the interest of RC Lens, which could be sanctioned by the DNCG and must also downsize its workforce. Reinforcements are hoped for within the Artois club this winter but rather in the offensive sector and in the form of loan.
Nantes, for its part, is less in financial difficulty and could in particular benefit from the expected departure of Mostafa Mohamed or that of Moses Simon to invest in Mahamadou Diawara. He could prove to be a nice move for the Canaries, like Johann Lepenant, who arrived from OL this summer.
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