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Casablanca – Olympique Lyonnais have secured their new centre-forward. According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Loïs Openda will be loaned from Juventus until the end of the season, without an option to buy.
The loan will cost Lyon €3 million. Juventus have reportedly agreed to cover a large portion of the former Lens player’s salary, estimated at €8 million per year.
Lyon were left short up front after the loan departures of Endrick and Roman Yaremchuk. While 18-year-old Rémi Himbert made a strong impression during preseason, Paulo Fonseca wanted a more experienced striker before the start of the season.
Before finalizing the Openda deal, Olympique Lyon had also studied the profiles of Mathys Tel, under contract with Tottenham, and Arnaud Kalimuendo, a player for Nottingham Forest.
The three forwards had a similar profile: French-speaking, lacking playing time at their club and likely to join Lyon on loan.
Constrained by its financial situation, Lyon had not planned to invest in a permanent transfer for this position and had been favouring a loan arrival since the beginning of the transfer window.
The objective now is to allow Loïs Openda to be quickly integrated into the group before the third preliminary round of the Champions League, where Lyon will face Sparta Prague on August 4 and 11.
