Olympique Lyonnais: Life After John Textor
Les Gones are enjoying early success under new leadership after narrowly avoiding administrative relegation.
Looking to the unconscious mind as both a source of creative inspiration and a pathway to a deeper reality untainted by societal norms and rational thought, André Breton wrote in his Manifestes du Surréalisme:
"I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak."
In encouraging people to break free from the constraints of rationalism and artistic convention, Breton's call to arms proved transformative for modern art and literature. Yet despite having no known artistic background, it would hardly be surprising to find copies of Breton's oeuvre in John Textor's office. Judging by the American businessman's tenure as president of Olympique Lyonnais, the 59-year old's approach to running the club often bordered on the surreal, with decisions seemingly driven more by the whims of a good night's sleep than by any realism regarding the harsh financial realities facing Les Gones.
After purchasing the club from legendary president Jean-Michel Aulas in December 2022 in a deal worth €886 million, John Textor boldly declared his ambition to challenge Paris Saint-Germain's dominance over French football. However, that vision became all the more embarrassing three months ago when Lyon were administratively relegated to Ligue 2 by the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG), stirring terrifying memories of Bordeaux's rapid fall into the amateur divisions after their financial collapse last summer. Though Textor did inherit a club burdened by debt - the construction of the state-of-the-art Groupama Stadium and a new training complex was not cheap - his efforts to relieve this financial strain had a surreal, almost delusional quality, as if inspired by the dreamlike absurdity of René Magritte's The Son of Man.
Textor had already received a warning from the DNCG two years earlier, when a transfer ban forced OL to sell prized assets Bradley Barcola and Castello Lukeba. Rather than trimming an expensive squad that had failed to qualify for the Champions League since the 2019/20 season, the Missourian chose instead to double down on his risky strategy. Inexplicably, an eye-watering €147 million was spent on new signings last season - including two eyebrow-raising deals for Nottingham Forest duo Moussa Niakhaté (for a club-record fee) and Orel Mangala (who was immediately loaned to Everton) - and by March 2025, Lyon's consolidated debts had ballooned to approximately €540 million. Despite being provisionally relegated to Ligue 2 by the DNCG in November 2024, Textor remained upbeat ahead of his crunch-time meeting with the financial watchdog in June, telling journalists:
"Everything is good financially."
This, however, did not turn out to be the case, and the financial irregularities uncovered during the meeting were astounding. Despite maintaining a first-team squad of just over thirty individuals, it was revealed that Lyon were paying the salaries of fifty-four players. Even more alarming, €91 million had been spent on three signings - Luiz Henrique, Igor Jesus and Jair - none of whom ever made an appearance for the club, instead playing for Botafogo, a sister club within the Eagle Football Group's multi-club ownership structure. To make matters worse, just days before the meeting, the club hurried through the €8 million signing of Matt Turner, a transfer Lyon would later posthumously hire a lawyer to review and attempt to cancel. By then, the writing was already on the wall. John Textor was unfit to run the club, as supporter group Les Bad Gones made clear following the DNCG's decision:
"John has never been and never will be the right man for the job. The Botafogo supporter should now disappear from the Lyon landscape."
Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)
André Breton wondered why people leant "so much more credence and attach so much importance to waking events than to those occurring in dreams," but even the Surrealist supreme, John Textor, could not ignore the mounting pressure from supporters and shareholders alike, stepping down from his role as president after the DNCG's headline-grabbing decision. Now in the capable hands of Michele Kang, the club have not only successfully appealed their relegation by resolving the issues that earned them a harsh reprimand from the DNCG, but - perhaps even more miraculously - begun the new Ligue 1 season in stunning form. Three wins from their first three games, five goals scored, none conceded, Les Gones have not only been winning whilst still operating on a shoestring budget, but done so whilst playing attractive football which has rightfully earned plaudits across l'Hexagone.
After acquiring Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (now rebranded as OL Lyonnes) from John Textor in 2023, Michele Kang seemed like the businessman's natural successor and her appointment has proven to be a savvy choice. The majority owner of the London City Lionesses and Washington Spirit is an avant-gardist in the world of sport, having launched the Kynisca Innovation Hub, a sports science organisation dedicated to women's football, and the rigour and level-headedness for which she is renowned has brought a dose of realpolitik that was sorely lacking during Textor's erratic reign. Whereas her predecessor became notorious for bringing letters of intent and promises of future player sales to meetings as evidence of Lyon's financial stability, Kang was able to present the DNCG with €124 million (€87 million in cash) in tangible funds, which with the backing of the club's major investors and a guarantee that Textor would not return to the fold, eased the concerns of DNCG president Jean-Marc Mickeler.
Kang's heroics saved the historic club from the brink of collapse, but Lyon remains mired in financial uncertainty. With the exception of Corentin Tolisso (whose leadership is deemed too vital to lose,) salaries have been capped at a maximum of €200,000 per month, and the urgent need to raise funds and pay down debt has caused many of the club's highest earners - and, by extension, some of its most talented players - to have left en masse for pastures new.
With the likes of Rayan Cherki, Saïd Benrahma, Alexandre Lacazette, Nemanja Matić, Lucas Perri and Jordan Veretout all departing the Rhône Valley this summer, it has fallen on the shoulders of manager Paulo Fonseca to unleash his inner Salvador Dalí and get creative. Having been parachuted into the club in January following the sacking of the popular Pierre Sage, it proved to be a difficult second half of the season for the 52-year old, as Lyon failed to qualify for the Champions League - a result that, in part, was influenced by the lengthy touchline ban he received (and is still serving) for headbutting referee Benoît Millot at the end of a 2-1 win versus Brest in March. Yet, rather than moping about the precarious situation in which Les Gones find themselves, the experienced Portuguese manager enthusiastically explained over the summer that he was relishing the challenge at hand:
"I am very motivated to reconstruct a team from practically nothing, with four to five players from last season. It's a new period, a new project. But we are Lyon, we must have ambition."
This newfound drive has been evident so far this season. Fonseca has made the most of his first pre-season in charge to not only integrate the most promising youngsters from the club's prestigious academy into the first-team squad, but also succeeded in forging a collective capable of playing the attractive, front-footed football for which he is renowned. Typically setting up in a 4-2-3-1, Lyon have shown admirable commitment to playing out from the back, frequently bypassing opponents through sharp passing triangles and demonstrating a clear willingness to press when out of possession, the hallmarks of a team that is not only physically and tactically well-conditioned, but, more importantly, one that is responding positively to the principles of their manager.
Fonseca has also benefited from a string of impressive performances by several individuals in his squad. Goalkeeper Rémy Descamps has been in inspired form, while centre-backs Clinton Mata and Moussa Niakhaté have proven to be surprisingly sturdy. Tanner Tessmann - though not always the most technically assured - has served as an important physical presence and midfield shield. Meanwhile, Corentin Tolisso has embraced his role as the squad's senior figure with aplomb; the returned prodigal son showcasing the intelligent off-ball movement and effective box-crashing that marked his return to top form last season. Newly signed Czech attacking duo Adam Karabec and Pavel Šulc have added versatility and aggressive, direct dribbling to a squad otherwise thin on depth. The emergence of Khalis Merah, a dainty, technically gifted academy product capable of playing comfortably across the midfield, is very exciting, especially given Lyon's successful track record of producing players of a similar ilk.
Particularly eye-catching have been Malick Fofana and Tyler Morton, who have quickly cemented themselves as two of the club's most important players, and by extension, its newfound poster boys. Fofana seems to be relishing his responsibility as Les Gones chief creative outlet, the Belgian's ability to burst down the line with blistering pace, while also slicing open opposition defences with magical footwork and expert body feints - on full display with a sensational goal against FC Metz - truly make him a joy to watch. Having arrived from Liverpool this summer for just €10 million, Morton has already made a mockery of his price tag by establishing himself as Lyon's very own Benjamin Britten, composing games with supreme ball control, a fine range of passing and impressive tactical nous. These qualities were evident when the 22-year old split open Metz's low block with an inch-perfect pass in the build-up to Lyon's second goal, and again during the Olympico, where his composure and intelligent switches of play were crucial in unlocking a stubborn Marseille defence.
However, more than inspired tactics or standout individual performances, it is Lyon's resilience - dramatically forged over the summer as the club's future precariously hung in the balance - that is currently the driving force behind everything positive happening on the pitch. This collective strength has quickly become more than the sum of its parts, as RC Lens discovered on the opening weekend of the season. Despite facing relentless waves of Sang et Or attacks, OL improbably held firm, an effort that Lens manager Pierre Sage, understanding the club's situation more intimately than most, praised in his post-match comments:
"Olympique Lyonnais is a phoenix, the situation has created solidarity and cohesion amongst the players, and we see a collective mental strength being installed within the group".
A collective mental strength (again evident in their late winner against a 10-man Marseille) that is emerging as the blueprint for Lyon's early success, it has not only helped fill the void left by the recent exodus of talent, but more importantly, reignited a sense of excitement among supporters, something that had long been missing under John Textor. The page may not yet be fully turned on that chaotic era, but slowly and surely, the club is beginning to move on.
Despite the good work of Michele Kang and Paulo Fonseca already bearing fruit, with the shadow of John Textor's disastrous tenure still looming large over the club, and the DNCG continuing to monitor Les Gones closely, the road to recovery promises to be a slow one. The recent departure of centre-forward and boyhood fan Georges Mikautadze - forced by financial constraints - served as a timely reminder of this predicament, his exit leaving OL without a recognised striker for the clash against Marseille and sparking a frantic search for a suitable, cost-effective replacement. Still, considering the dire position Lyon found themselves in just three months ago, it's hard not to feel a certain fondness for what the club has managed to achieve in the post-Textor era. "There are fairy stories to be written for adults," André Breton once wrote. So far, this just might be one of them.
great article.