Unclear due to reporting ban
©IMAGO
It was already rumored in the summer that world champion Thiago Almada would only play temporarily at Botafogo Rio de Janeiro and move to Olympique Lyon in the winter. After winning the championship and Copa Libertadores with the Brazilians, the 23-year-old attacking midfielder confirmed his presumed move within the club family of US investor John Textor in an “ESPN” interview – and thereby surprised, at least publicly, the coach of the club Frenchman, Pierre Sage.
“I’m ready to come to Lyon. I will go there on January 5,” Almada said. At the press conference before the cup game on Saturday against fourth division club EFAFC, OL coach Sage was asked about this and said, according to “RMC Sport”: “It is quite surprising that a player commits himself to this. I imagine he expressed a wish, but that’s not official information. Only clubs can provide official information. I’ll wait to see if it becomes official or not.”
It is unclear from the story whether Almada should even play for Lyon in the second half of the season. The financial regulator for French football clubs DNCG has imposed a reporting ban and a salary cap on the club in order to get the debts, which have recently increased by around 50 million euros to 505 million euros, under control. If this does not succeed, there is reportedly a risk of forced relegation to Ligue 2. This means that the fifth-placed team is actually not allowed to sign any new players in the winter and will probably part with professionals with a high market value in order to make money.
With a transfer fee of 19.5 million euros, Almada became the most expensive addition in the history of the Brazilian Série A. It was said at the time that Lyon would pay a similar amount in the winter. For example, the fact that the Argentine has already signed in France and been loaned to Brazil, which would be a possibility of letting him play in Lyon, is still speculation. Officially, Almada is under contract with Botafogo until 2029.
