“We will not be relegated” promises the owner of Olympique Lyonnais, after the sanction of the financial policeman of French Football

His speech was expected. And John Textor kept his people waiting. Saturday, November 16 in the morning, the American postponed his press conference for a long time before appearing in front of the journalists to return to the news from Olympique Lyonnais. Not to talk about the good sporting dynamics of the club he owns – fifth in Ligue 1, on a series of six games without defeat in the league – but about its financial problems.

The day before, the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) had decided to control the club's payroll and ban recruitment during the winter transfer market, due to its debt. Above all, the financial policeman had ordered his “conservative demotion at the end of the current sporting season”as specified in a press release. In question, accounts in the red, reporting at the beginning of November a financial debt of around 505 million euros.

Is there then a risk of seeing the seven-time French champion club in Ligue 2 next season? “We will not be relegated. Our shareholders have funds. Nobody will allow the club to be relegated. We are very optimistic” insisted John Textor, wanting to be reassuring: there will soon be in the crates “much more money than necessary for what OL needs. »

The one who bought the Rhone club from Jean-Michel Aulas in 2022 estimated that the DNCG did not sufficiently take into account that OL is part of a group of clubs, Eagle Football Holdings, alongside in particular the Brazilian team Botafogo and Molenbeek in Belgium. “At the DNCG, there are intelligent people but they work in a system and do not want to look at what we are doing on a global scale. The DNCG must digest a lot of figures in a very short time. And even if they are experts in their field, they are not experts on the New York Stock Exchange., justified the 59-year-old businessman. “Having the DNCG tell me how to manage my business seems awkward to me. »

“People will try to exploit this news”

Textor assures that the clubs of the parent company can help each other, providing solidity to the whole, and that it is preparing to sell its shares (45%) in Crystal Palace, a London club playing in the first division in England. Especially since it also provides savings directly to OL, by targeting the total payroll. “We have 29 players in the first team. Ideally there would be 23 or 24 players. There are six players too many. »

“There is no chance of us failing, at any level” hammered the American, who sees too many possible sources of money for the club not to make up its deficit “around 100 million euros”. The sale of players with high market value could be another way of replenishing the coffers, but weakening the team too much risks jeopardizing the objective of qualifying for the Champions League, synonymous with another possible entry of money.

But it's difficult to do business when you have a knife to your throat. Aware of the economic difficulties of Olympique Lyonnais, other clubs could be tempted to offer discounted offers for its best players, young attackers Rayan Cherki and Malick Fofana for example. “Yes, people will try to exploit this news. If clubs don't want to buy our players at the right price, we simply won't sell to them. Some conversations around players have started at lower numbers, but we will sell the players at the right price” Textor commented.

The fact remains that OL is moving into the unknown, due to John Textor's vague financial arrangements, to say the least. Especially since the American and his holding company Eagle must be accountable to the investment fund Ares Management, which could recover the club if by chance John Textor finds himself unable to repay his debts. A scenario that evokes that of AC Milan a few years ago: “The American investment fund has regained control after the Chinese owner’s payment failures”, recalled the sports economist Luc Arrondel, in The Parisian. A few months after the filing for bankruptcy of the Girondins de Bordeaux (from another financier, Gérard Lopez) and their demotion to National 2 (fourth national level), another monument of French football is in danger.