The story had to be beautiful, it was only a stealthy passage. Arrived this winter in Lyon in the form of a loan, Thiago Almada represented a breath of freshness in a club in search of benchmarks. World champion with Argentina, the former Atlanta United player had everything to embody the renewal of OL. But like a club loss, the adventure ends even before it has really started. The purchase option of 27 million euros will not be lifted. And it is not a sporting choice, but purely financial.
A lifestyle that OL can no longer follow
Olympique Lyonnais is paying today the price of management that has become chaotic. Under the leadership of John Textor, the promises of renewal turned into massive debt and contradictory decisions. The club's economic situation, weighed down by a debt which borders on the 500 million euros, prevents any significant investment. In this context, even a player as talented as Almada becomes a luxury that Lyon can no longer afford.
Rather than betting on the young Argentinian to rebuild, John Textor is already planning to repatriate him to Botafogo, another club from his Eagle group. Objective displayed: prepare it for the Club World Cup in the United States. A temporary stage before a resale to a more upscale club. In other words, Lyon will have been a simple showcase, a relay. A satellite club at the service of a global strategy, where local sporting interests go into the background.
Almada could only make a brief visit to Lyon.
Thiago Almada: a contrary departure, but inevitable
For Thiago Almada, the return to Brazil is not an exciting perspective. He who aims to Europe and major competitions will have to wait or force his hand to his leaders. In the meantime, his visit to Lyon will remain a huge mess. Not for lack of talent or involvement, but because it fell at the wrong time, in a club that has become unstable. And it is the supporters who pay the price once again.
With Almada, Ligue 1 held an international standing player, which is rare enough to be underlined. His forced departure is indicative of a deeper evil: the decline in the French championship on the European scene, unable to hold back his talents, even recent. OL turns a page, but it is especially French football that lets a gem slip without having been able to take advantage of it. And that, even John Textor cannot deny it.
