Half of Europe looking at Lyon's players
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Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 21.05.26. | 15:15
The famous club must raise funds quickly in order to meet UEFA's requirements
Lyon has been going through a serious crisis, and it’s far from over. There’s no end in sight, and the club is under UEFA’s watchful eye. It could easily happen, even though they secured a spot in the Champions League qualifiers, that they might not participate in them—or even in European competitions at all. Lyon will once again have to sell players to “balance” their financial books. A significant amount of money will be needed to avoid being crossed off by the governing body. According to L’Équipe, the French club has been given two deadlines: by the end of June, they must pay 20 million euros, and by the end of August, three times that amount to be eligible to play in the Champions League if they qualify through the playoffs.
The business books of Olympique Lyon were in poor shape—they violated financial fair play rules and were even initially relegated from Ligue 1 to Ligue 2. That decision was later overturned on appeal. Now, they are facing new problems, and UEFA won’t be lenient this time. Lyon still hasn’t met the conditions of the agreement reached with UEFA, which is why they’ve been given the two deadlines mentioned above.
It’s rather grim that they’ll have to sell players to raise the necessary funds and meet UEFA’s requirements. Some players will leave for free, others below market value, especially in the first wave by the end of June. Still, even while facing these problems at the Groupama Stadium, they’ve identified five players who won’t be sold to help fill the gaps and ensure European football.
🆕 Tyler Morton is one of the players deemed 'untouchable' by Lyon hierarchy and won’t be sold under any circumstances. Lyon need to raise €20m from player sales before the end of June to comply with financial regulations in France - @lequipe pic.twitter.com/JKpsysYBiF
— Anything Liverpool (@AnythingLFC_) May 21, 2026
Those not for sale are: Dominic Grift, Moussa Niakate, Tyler Morton, Corentin Tolisso, and one from the duo Malik Fofana and Alfonso Moreira. One of the latter two will be sold. Potential players on the transfer list include Nicolas Tagliafico, Aurelien Mangala, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Pavel Sulc, and Ruben Klaivert. Lyon will play the card of reducing wages. Any new signings will be funded by whatever money remains after satisfying UEFA’s requirements. Tough situation indeed.