Olympique Lyonnais Faces Financial Troubles Amid Transfer Deficit

Olympique Lyonnais owner Eagle Football Group is considering job cuts due to a transfer deficit and reduced media rights revenues. The parent company will provide around 40 million euros in working capital. Despite significant player acquisition expenses, they did not meet their sale targets during the transfer period.

Olympique Lyonnais owner Eagle Football Group (EFG) announced plans on Monday to enter discussions with employee representatives regarding potential job cuts. This move follows a substantial transfer deficit and a decrease in domestic media rights revenues.

Eagle Football Holdings (EFH), the parent company of the French Ligue 1 club, will inject approximately 40 million euros in working capital into EFG in the upcoming weeks. This is in addition to the capital contributions from the sale of its stake in Crystal Palace and the commencement of an IPO process on the New York Stock Exchange. According to a statement, "During the summer transfer period, the club had significant opportunities to sell players but did not achieve its targets, mainly due to the decision of certain players to stay with Olympique Lyonnais."

The club disclosed that while the total value of player contracts sold during the transfer period amounted to around 39 million euros, about 145 million euros was spent on player acquisitions and loans since June, the highest expenditure among French teams. In September, the French newspaper L'Equipe reported that Lyon had placed the majority of their squad on the transfer market to raise 75 million euros to meet financial targets and balance their budget.

(With inputs from agencies.)