Mercato: Olympique Lyonnais on the track of Cameroonian André Onana
Cameroonian goalkeeper André Onana, here in the colors of Ajax Amsterdam, November 25, 2020. AP - Patrick Post
Text by: Nicolas Bamba Follow
5 mins
Peter Bosz, the new coach of OL, would have a very specific request for the summer recruitment of Gones.
He would have asked his leaders to bring in André Onana, the goalkeeper of Ajax Amsterdam, according to the daily L'Équipe.
But there are many obstacles on this issue.
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After a complicated 2020-2021 season, Olympique Lyonnais wants to start a new cycle.
Rudi Garcia left with a bang and
Peter Bosz
replaced him as coach.
The Dutch coach will have his fourth championship, after having officiated in the Netherlands, Israel and Germany.
For his return to France, the country where he lived when he played in Toulon between 1988 and 1991, Bosz would have the idea of bringing a very personal touch to his new team.
The information was published on Saturday July 3 by the newspaper
L'Équipe
and its journalists Hugo Guillemet and Hervé Penot, recurring consultant of Radio Foot Internationale: Peter Bosz would like to bring André Onana to OL.
The two worked together during the 2016-2017 season, when the coach was at Ajax Amsterdam and the player made his first steps into the professional world.
Onana is at the end of her contract and is serving a suspension of several more months
According to
L'Équipe
, there is a window to recruit Onana in Lyon. Of course, the 25-year-old Cameroonian goalkeeper enjoys good odds in Europe. Several big clubs have followed him since
Ajax's epic
in 2018-2019, with a Champions League semi-final lost narrowly against Tottenham. But André Onana is in a delicate situation.
The Indomitable Lion will expire in Amsterdam in June 2022; if the ajacid club wants to sell it and recover a transfer fee, it is this summer or never (except extension). And a year from the end of his lease, it wouldn't cost as much as with a longer contract. On the other hand, André Onana has not played Ajax since February 2021, due to a
positive doping control
: the player took Lasimac, a diuretic and hypotensive drug (which lowers blood pressure) prescribed to his wife . He did not know that he was on the list of prohibited products.
UEFA has since ruled that the goalkeeper had no intention of cheating.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport, seized, confirmed this and allowed
his suspension
to be
reduced
from one year to nine months.
From November 2021, he will be able to play again.
This suspension, coupled with the next CAN (from January 9 to February 6, 2022 in Cameroon), may cool some contenders.
But not Peter Bosz.
Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana warming up before a Champions League match on November 25, 2020 in Amsterdam Kenzo Tribouillard AFP / Archives
Courted, the guard thinks
If Inter Milan and Arsenal remain interested, Bosz is also reportedly keeping a close eye on his former player. He would have the idea of bringing him in this summer, despite these months of suspension. It would also be a way to integrate it little by little without putting it in direct competition with Anthony Lopes, holder since 2013 after the departure of Hugo Lloris in 2012 and the injury of Rémy Vercoutre. Rather, Bosz's plan would be to have an André Onana ready to take over at any time, knowing that the Portuguese Lopes will be in his last year of contract in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
An OL-Onana meeting would be scheduled soon,
L'Équipe
still slips
. The idea of joining Lyon would not displease the Amstellodamois, but he would still be thinking about it, knowing that there is no shortage of offers. Also according to
L'Équipe
, the goalkeeper could leave Ajax for a transfer estimated at 8 million euros.
If he joined OL, André Onana would find his international compatriot
Karl Toko-Ekambi
.
Before the striker and perhaps before the goalkeeper, Lyon had several Cameroonian players in its ranks.
The late
Marc-Vivien Foé
evolved there, like Jean II Makoun.
Joseph-Désiré Job and Clinton Njie did part of their training there before taking their first steps with the pros.
Defenders Nicolas Nkoulou and Henri Bedimo have also played there in recent years.
Further on, attackers Guillaume Moundi and Eugène N'Jo Léa wore the Gones tunic.
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