Lyon turn up the heat
Twenty million euros. That is where the Keito Nakamura file has landed after a summer of haggling, and Olympique Lyonnais have decided the number works. According to Foot Mercato, the Rhone club stepped up its chase in the last few hours and already has the player’s green light.
The Japan winger is contracted to Stade de Reims until June 2028. Reims wanted around 25 million when the window opened. That figure has slipped since.
The profile won everyone over internally, Foot Mercato says. Marseille had kept tabs on him earlier in the summer. Lyon moved ahead of the pack in the final stretch.
Try it for $0.99.
Someone has to replace Malick Fofana
This burst of pace is no accident. Malick Fofana is on his way out, courted by several Premier League clubs all summer, and his exit leaves a hole on Lyon’s attacking flank that nobody in the current squad fills naturally.
Nakamura ticks the boxes. He can play either wing, drives past defenders with the ball at his feet, gives back lines something to worry about. After a spell at LASK Linz and a move to Reims in the summer of 2023, he has taken another step forward in Ligue 1. Reims signed him for exactly this sort of job. Lyon want the same output, only more of it.
Time is the problem. The window shuts tonight. Talks between all parties are said to be positive, Foot Mercato reports.
A window with a lot of traffic
Nakamura is not the only live file. OL have ended Duje Caleta-Car’s contract by mutual consent, with the defender heading to Sassuolo. The club has also reached an agreement with Juventus over Nicolas Tagliafico, an exit tied to Juan Cabal’s departure.
Tanner Tessmann, Pavel Sulc and Ernest Nuamah could all follow them out. Meanwhile Lyon are pushing for AC Milan midfielder Youssouf Fofana. Busy hours for a club counting every euro.
Discover the rest of the football news on our site and mathodds app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply