Lyon have confirmed that Moussa Dembele is leaving for free with Premier League duo Everton and Aston Villa two potential destinations for the former Celtic striker.
In another world, Olympique Lyonnais sold Houssem Aouar and Moussa Dembele to Arsenal and Manchester United for £40 million apiece, reinvesting those funds into Laurent Blanc’s squad before securing a return to the Champions League.
In reality, however, Aouar and Dembele the leaving Stade OL for nothing; their contracts expiring in just three weeks’ time.
“It’s not a good situation for us to know that he’ll be on a free,” OL director Vincent Ponsot grumbles. “We spent 22 million euros on him. (Dembele leaving for nothing) is a great regret.”
Aouar, once one of the most coveted young midfielders in Europe, is on his way to Roma. As for Dembele, a return to the UK could beckon for a man who made his debut at Fulham before firing Celtic to successive domestic trebles during the Brendan Rodgers era.
Is Moussa Dembele joining Everton or Aston Villa?
Everton, per The Mirror, are fans of Dembele. The Toffees are under pressure to bring in a new centre-forward and Dembele’s free-agent status is likely to appeal to an Everton side facing another summer of Financial Fair Play pressures.
Aston Villa is another potential destination. FootMercato. Villa sold Danny Ings to West Ham in January and, with youngsters Jhon Duran and Cameron Archer unproven in the top-flight, could welcome the chance to bring in some extra experience up top.
“Best of luck on your future endeavours,” Lyon write on Twitter, confirming that Dembele will be on his way when his contract runs down.
“The last-second header in the (Rhone) derby, the lob against Marseille, the brace against (Manchester) City in the quarter-finals…
“Thank you.”
Dembele broke the 20-goal barrier in three of his five seasons at Lyon; that Champions League double to knock out Pep Guardiola’s side back in 2020 his most memorable moment.
The one-time Atletico Madrid loanee scored just three times in 28 games last term, however, a tally which looks to have scuppered his hopes of joining one of Europe’s bonafide big-hitters.
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