A loss in defense and a huge gain in attack. Unlucky finalist of the last Champions League, Olympique Lyonnais did not manage to retain the French defender Griedge MBock. It did, however, attract the Malawian striker, Tabitha Chawinga.
The striker, top scorer in Division 1 last season with Paris Saint-Germain, signed on Tuesday July 2 and “until June 30, 2027”with the Rhone club, eight times winner of the Champions League and champion of France for the seventeenth time on May 18.
In a press release, OL general manager Vincent Ponsot welcomed his new recruit: “We have a high-quality team and our goal is to add an extra touch of excellence every time. This season, we are achieving that with the arrival of Tabitha Chawinga.”
Faced with Barcelona’s dominance in Europe and the rise of English clubs, the owner and president of OL Women, Michele Kang, knows that it is necessary to continue investing. The recruitment of Chawinga – voted best player in Division 1 last season under the colors of PSG – is a strong signal sent to the European competition.
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Loaned to PSG last year, thanks to her ties with coach Jocelyn Prêcheur – he trained her in China and has also just left the capital club for the London City Lionesses (owned by Michele Kang) –, the formidable striker (32 goals in 36 matches) still belonged to the Wuhan club. Her contract with the Chinese club ended in December. Despite the desire of the capital club to keep her and the wish she expressed “to play again in Paris next season”, in May in an interview with Mondeshe chose to move to rival Lyon.
“A historic club”
A choice that offers her, a priori, better guarantees of being able to win the Champions League one day. It has been one of her dreams since she left Malawi at a very young age, at 18, to join the Swedish third division and the club in the small town of Dvärsätt, in the north of the country.
“I am very happy to join Olympique Lyonnais femmes, it is a historic club that has already won many Women’s Champions League titles [Ligue des champions féminine] and French championshipshe describes. It was a goal for me to sign for a big club and I am happy to be able to continue my career at OL.”
Read also | “Lyon-PSG, the highest level matches of my life”, for Tabitha Chawinga, best player of the season and football globetrotter
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In Sweden, China, Italy (Inter Milan) or France, the globetrotter Tabitha Chawinga has always been, each season, the top scorer and the best player of her different clubs. Fast, quick and very skillful in front of goal, she promises to be a major reinforcement for Olympique Lyonnais. The club recently extended the contracts of its scorers Eugénie Le Sommer and Ada Hegerberg and replaced its coach, Sonia Bompastor, with the Australian Joe Montemurro.
