Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin 9:01 p.m., October 10, 2022, modified at 9:03 p.m., October 10, 2022

Exceptional guest of "Europe 1 Sport", this Monday evening, the president of Olympique Lyonnais, Jean-Michel Aulas, returned to the appointment of Laurent Blanc as coach of the Rhone club.

He spoke exclusively on our antenna, and spoke of an "almost natural arrival".

“Everyone was in agreement”.

The Lyon president, who has set his sights on Laurent Blanc, free of any contract since his departure from Al Rayyan, as OL coach to replace Peter Bosz, sacked for poor results, has reconsidered this decision taken in 48 hours.

He said he had spoken with all the leaders of the club such as Bruno Cheyrou, the head of the club's recruitment unit or the new majority shareholder of the club, the American John Textor, before making this choice.

The Laurent Blanc option was approved unanimously among the club's leaders. 

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"An almost natural arrival"

"We have known each other for so long with Laurent", argues the president of OL who had already considered recruiting the former coach of the Blues two years ago, in 2019, before finally setting his sights on Rudi Garcia.

A choice that regrets today Jean-Michel Aulas who had then listened to the recommendations of Juninho, the former sports director of Olympique Lyonnais (2018-2021).

Jean-Michel Aulas' wish has now been granted.

"It's an almost natural arrival," rejoices the president of the Rhone club who had never really taken Laurent Blanc out of the corner of his head.

For his part, the former coach of Paris Saint-Germain (2013-2016) also wanted to join the ranks of Lyon.

The club's infrastructure would have weighed considerably in the choice of coach, again according to the president of Olympique Lyonnais. 

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"There was an emergency"

It was necessary "to make this decision quickly", added Jean-Michel Aulas.

And for good reason, OL have not won for five games in Ligue 1, and are only in 9th place in the championship after 10 days, too far from their ambitions.

Olympique Lyonnais intends to finish in the top 5, synonymous with qualification for European competition next season.

Jean-Michel Aulas also mentioned the Ligue 1 title and recalled that it was a goal for the next few years.

As a reminder, OL's last league title dates back to the 2007-2008 season.

But before glimpsing such a performance, the Lyonnais will have to move up the rankings.

And that goes through a victory next Friday, during the trip to Rennes (3 p.m.), on behalf of the 11th day of Ligue 1.