Hi, welcome to the third part of this series, where we explore the greatest academies in the world of football. Please check parts 1 and part 2 if you haven’t already.
Today, we have travelled to the French powerhouse club Olympique Lyonnais, which is based in the city of Lyon. OL or Lyon have gone through a rough phase where they have faced financial restrictions. The club was relegated due to economic issues, but the relegation was revoked later on. The performance on the pitch has also not been up to the mark. Their biggest achievement in the past decade is that they knocked City out of the CL in a quarter-final game. This season, Lyon has found a strong rhythm under Fonesca, a manager renowned for promoting youth talent and successfully integrating young players into the first team.
The French club has won Ligue 17 times and has won multiple Coupe de France in the past. In the 2000’s, Lyon dominated the Ligue 1 like nobody else; not even today’s PSG can match that aura. They won seven league titles consecutively in back-to-back seasons and were the biggest team in French football. It was during that time Lyon produced some of the best ballers and also developed a great youth system which paved the way for next generational stars like Cherki.
Today, we will look at some of the top ballers produced by Lyon-
Lacazette
In terms of Lyon, I don’t think there is a more valuable striker than A. Lacazette. At 19, Lacazette broke into Lyon’s first team and he was a highly anticipated youngster in France. he served Lyon like a proper warrior, helping them compete with PSG in many different seasons. He then went to Arsenal, a move that benefited Lyon, for around 50M. And returned to Lyon on a free transfer when his team was suffering, which helped them stay relevant and then left for Saudi to see out the rest of his career.
For Lyon, Lacazette scored 201 goals, becoming the 2nd-highest goal scorer in the club’s history. a true legend of OL.
Corentin Tolisso
The World Cup winner for France started his playing career in Lyon, stayed in the B team and then finally boomed in 13/14 season. The midfielder continued his dominance in the Ligue 1 and played for 4 years, after which he secured a move to Bayern Munich. He couldnt break out as a sure starter for the German giants but was also a rotational and squad player for the club. In the 22/23 season, Tolisso returned to Lyon on a free transfer to help the club out of its struggles.
At only 31, the CL and multiple Bundesliga winner would want to win at least one title with his boyhood club.
K. Benzema
The biggest name on the list and the best talent Lyon has ever produced. Benzema is a renowned legend in the footballing world and his greatness is generally associated with Real Madrid, but his tenure at Lyon is often overlooked.
He began his footballing journey with Lyon in the 2005 season and quickly started making his way into the main squad, helping Lyon win 3 consecutive Ligue 1 titles. In 2008, he was named the league’s player of the year and featured in the Ligue 1 team of the year. He finished as the league’s top goal scorer and won his fourth league title. In 2009, Benzema was the subject of a then-French record football transfer when he joined Real Madrid in a deal worth €35 million. The rest is history.
The Ballon d’Or winner has always talked highly about his boyhood club and sometimes there were rumours of him joining PSG, but he always denied it. He has publicly said that he cannot imagine playing in any other club than Lyon in the Ligue1.
N. Fekir
Honesty, many other names could have been taken in place of Fekir, like Barcola, Cherki, etc., but Fekir’s presence at Lyon and the way he made the whole club fall for him is just on another level. People these days are amazed by CHerki, but Fekir was also on that same trajectory. Fekir was actually removed from the academy, but he developed himself and later joined Lyon as he wanted to prove everyone wrong.
Fekir Won the young player of the year in the 2nd year itself and Liverpool in 2018 was willing to pay 60m for the signature of Fekir, the move collapsed and Fekir joined Betis a year later. The World Cup winner was a great talent, but injury robbed him and now he is currently playing in Saudi Arabia.
S. Umtiti
Samuel Umtiti was once the pinnacle of defenders, helping the Les Blues win the World Cup in 2018. He formed a formidable partnership with R. Varane, but before all this, Umtiti started his professional football journey at the age of 6 from Lyon’s academy. Ever since his academy days, Umtiti has been a shy but focused player. He made his debut in the 2012 season and slowly started impressing every giant European club. In 2016, Umtiti decided to join FC Barcelona, and in the starting few years, he was really good for them, but after the 2018 World Cup, Umtiti’s career went downhill.
After a few years of leaving Barca, Samuel Umtiti hung up his boots and ended his impactful playing career.
Some notable names
- Barcola (PSG)
- Martial (Monterrey)
- Le Paul (Rennes)
- Sarr (Strastborugh)
- Aourar (Al Ithhad)
- Caqueret (Como)
- Cherki (City)
- Gusto (Chelsea)
- Lukeba (RB Leipzig)
- Ben Arfa
