Olympique Lyonnais coach Rudi Garcia is willing to make the loan deal of striker, Karl Toko Ekambi, permanent.
The striker joined the Ligue 1 club on loan from the Spanish side, Villareal. He helped them get to the knockout stage of the Champions League, where they have beaten Serie A champions, Juventus 1-0 in the first leg before COVID-19 forced the cancelation of the return leg.
The French Government had declared that there wouldn’t be any sporting activity in the country till September. This forced the League body to declare runaway leaders, Paris Sainte Germaine winner of the league after leading with 21 points. Lyon, therefore, ended the season seventh in Ligue 1 Conforama table, meaning that they won’t be participating in next season’s Champions League. This will be happening for the first time since 1996-97.
With the remaining games canceled in France, PSG has said it would probably play it’s remaining Champions League home games abroad due to the government’s pronouncement.
With the club planning not to repeat the disappointment next season, Garcia has, therefore, begun planning with the strengthening of his team.
With Ousmane Dembele’s exit looking likely in the summer, Garcia is planning to have Ekambi as a back up for now having had a successful loan stint with the club.
Speaking when he featured as a guest on Lyon’s Night System programme on the club’s private channel OLTV, the former AS Roma manager used the opportunity to mention the possibility of retaining Ekambi, who linked up with the side in January.
While noting that he corrected some wrongs in the team during the winter transfer window, Garcia said he still has to continue building the team.
Garcia had acquired the service of Bruno Guimaraes and Toko Ekambi during the winter transfer. He added that the club has agreed to keep Ekambi, expressing confidence that Lyon can hang onto their key players.
Speaking on the summer transfer window, Garcia said it would be an unusual window because he has a good squad, adding that it would help the club react well next season.
While also expressing the confidence of having a great season in 2020-21, he said the club remains very ambitious to work towards achieving its goals.
On the likelihood that some of the best players in the team might leave, Garcia said he is unworried as they have contracts, and they are happy at the club.
Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed
