John Textor finally sells Luiz Henrique to Russia

Sanctioned this winter by the DNCG, Olympique Lyonnais had to make several sales during the winter transfer window and was also banned from recruiting. The month of January began with several sales, notably that of Gift Orban near Hoffenheim. Maxence Caqueret left for Come, in Serie A while Jefferson was definitively bought by Botafo (another John Textor club) from OL and Anthony Lopes went to FC Nantes. Departures which provide some relief to the club’s finances. In the other direction, John Textor managed to circumvent the DNCG sanctions since he formalized the arrival of 2022 World Champion Thiago Almada from Botafogo.

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The Argentinian arrives on a free loan until this summer, which allows him to be registered by Lyon for the second part of the season. And the 23-year-old striker should not be the only one to arrive at OL from Botafogo. For several months, the name of the nugget Luiz Henrique had come up insistently and it was even announced that there was a high probability of seeing him join Lyon after his departure from Brazil. A transfer between the two Eagle Football clubs. This was also the player’s wish. The Brazilian wanted to come to Europe and believed that OL was an interesting step for him.

35 million at the Zenith Saint Petersburg

As with Lucas Perri, Adryelson and therefore Thiago Almada, he wanted to continue his progress at OL and take advantage of the link between the Brazilian and French club. A desire shared by John Textor who was clearly not against strengthening OL at a lower cost. But we wondered how the American leader was going to get around the DNCG sanctions once again. Recently, when there was talk of Luiz Henrique leaving for this winter, John Textor delayed a bit. “The plan for him was always for him to move to Europe, but we don’t know anything yet. He could play in the Club World Cup with Botafogo (June 15 – July 15) because it is a concrete possibility, this transfer must be done in his interest and at the right time. I speak to his agents very often and we will decide what to do in the first week of January,” he explained.

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Finally, the winger, author of 12 goals and 6 assists in 51 matches last season, will not go to OL. John Textor decided to replenish Botafogo’s coffers (and he really needed it) since, according to the Brazilian media UOLthe Brazilian club has just reached an agreement with Zénith Saint-Petersburg. The Russian club will pay 35 million euros to recover it. All that is missing is the signing of the contract, but the parties have reached an agreement. It was John Textor himself who negotiated this significant sum with the Russian club. This is the 14th sale of the club, winners of the Copa Libertadores and the championship, since last season.