Ditched by Olympique Lyonnais this summer, Johann Lepenant walks on water with Nantes. However, OL will have absolutely nothing to fear from their former midfielder this weekend.
Untouchable since the start of the season, Johann Lepenant is having a blast away from OL. In Lyon, after a promising start, he had clearly suffered pressure, and a very defensive positioning which did not completely suit him, only to collapse and disappear from traffic, his physical problems not having helped him to stay in the pace. Loaned to Nantes in complete discretion, the midfielder plays higher and has a blast to the point of adding goals and assists to his array of goals, like this Sunday against AS Saint-Etienne. Even if he held no grudge against Olympique Lyonnais, the native of Granville would obviously have liked to show at Groupama Stadium what level he can play at when he is confident and which he perhaps deserves, at future, to come back and try to win at OL.
OL steeled themselves to avoid unpleasant surprises
But this will not be the case since Le Progrès confirms that, in the loan agreement between Lyon and Nantes, the Rhone club does not authorize the Canaries to line up the international hopefuls on the match sheet. This in view of Sunday’s match, and the legend that a former player is often decisive against his ex-team will not be able to be verified. A common practice and which still sometimes raises questions, but in general the club which recovers the player does not have much of a say, happy to have a promising element at a lower cost. Lepenant should, however, stop by Lyon to greet his former teammates and encourage his current partners, who could well be permanently in the coming months. Indeed, OL included a purchase option for 2.5 million euros in the loan and at present, it seems difficult to see Nantes refusing this golden opportunity, if only for resell a player whose value is growing every weekend, to the point of now reaching 6 million euros on specialized sites. Good deal in sight for the Canaries, who are already taking full advantage of the player trained at SM Caen at the start of the season.
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