THE BOLD Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, who was up through the night on Thursday plotting the dirty tricks with the Dembele camp, thanked his new striker for playing his part in forcing the move from Celtic.
We wrote about Aulas’ tactics the other day and it pretty much played out exactly as we said it would – although we stated that other night that Lyon would pay £22.5million – it turned out to be €22.5million, so it was a wrong number…
*Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas calls the wrong Glasgow number*
“I have tried my best to sign Moussa Dembele from Celtic – they are just not budging. I have offered 15 and 20 million pounds plus add-ons but they won’t sell. I don’t know what to do!!” pic.twitter.com/RgC4dbloYe
— Connor G ???? (@UniversalGleam_) August 31, 2018
The Lyon President was pleased with the role played by Dembele in forcing Celtic hand, “I want to thank him because he’s talented and he’s shown determination to come here,” Aulas said. “Without that, it would not have happened.
“Lyon has financial power that’s known all over Europe. Sometimes you have to use it. We had to be flexible and smart to finish negotiating and to reach an agreement with Celtic. I’m personally very happy, I’m satisfied and confident.”
There’s a few euphemisms in that quote – presumably the flexible and smart bit relates to getting the then Celtic player to tweet defamatory messages on social media in the middle of the night.
The Lyon manager Bruno Genesio, sees Demeble as an ideal replacement for Mariano Diaz, who has joined Real Madrid. Speaking about the new arrival from Celtic, the Lyon Head Coach seemed pleased with his new signing.
“He’s the type of player we don’t have in our team.
“He’s a real No.9. We’ll need him, especially in the Champions League. He gives me more possibilities. He can play alone or with another forward by his side.
“His desire to come to the club really impressed me. He wanted to join our project after our first discussions with him.”
Lyon, with a winger playing centre forward, meanwhile, lost 1-0 at home to ODC Nice last night. Shame that.
