Departing Olympique Lyon striker, Alexandre Lacazette, has revealed that he would continue his playing career but won’t play for another Ligue 1 club.
It’s no longer news that the 33-year-old talisman would leave at the end of his deal as he is on a high wage and the club are currently mired in financial issues.
Lacazette re-joined Lyon, his boyhood club, on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract at Arsenal in 2022.
Meanwhile, Lyon, who finished sixth on the Ligue 1 table, are expected to sell some more players still to balance the books.
Ryan Cherki is among the top players who will leave the club this summer as well.
In an interview published on OL’s YouTube channel, Lacazette insisted that his career is not over and that he will soon decide on his future.
The striker said he has always found it wonderful to belong to the club since I was little.
“Playing for it, discovering the pressure, the love of the supporters.”
“And then there’s this ‘we’re not very popular in France’ side. We feel that when we travel… There may be jealousy among people. There’s also a rivalry with certain teams, but I feel that there’s this jealousy towards Olympique Lyonnais. Because we were dominant for too long,” he added.
Meanwhile, there are mixed opinions amongst Lyon’s supporters. Some are praising the club’s attacking style of play, while others point to the attitude of its president, Jean-Michel Aulas, as the source of the disaffection towards the club.
Lacazette played a key role in driving Lyon from a relegation battle last season, driving them towards an unlikely qualification for the UEFA Europa League. He scored 22 goals in the 2023/24 campaign in 35 games in all competitions. This season, he scored 17 goals in 41 games.
He leaves the club after 390 games, scoring 200 goals over two spells. He netted the 200th goal when he played his final game against SCO Angers on Saturday.
