Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas is confident that his side can start to seriously compete with Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain if they can have a couple of strong campaigns.
PSG have dominated French football over the course of the last four years and are on course of a second successive domestic treble, yet Aulas is confident that the structures being laid in Lyon will see the advantage the Qatari-owned club currently have reduced significantly.
“If we can play in the Champions League for two or three years in succession, we will find an economic equilibrium that will allow us to get very close to PSG,” Aulas told Goal. “I’m convinced of that – it’s our project.”
The veteran president stirred controversy last weekend when he billed Saturday’s clash against Monaco as “the final of the French championship” because “Qatar’s not in France”. He’s since relented on that comment and explained why he made it.
“It was a way to protect the players with a humorous dig, and to create a buzz that has allowed everyone at the club to concentrate on the most important thing for us: reaching the Champions League,” he explained.
“There are a lot of people who have taken the comment in bad faith, because what PSG have done on a sporting level has been magnificent.”
Indeed, the 67-year-old is pleased to see money coming into French football, but says it needs to be spread more evenly to allow the domestic league to thrive in the manner of Spain or England.
“There needs to be an elite that is competitive at a European level,” he explained. “It takes three or four teams to promote the league and create competitions. For this, we need to bring in investors. I’m not against them – I’m against an excessive concentration of investment in one single club. What is needed are four or five French clubs that can rival those in other countries.”
Lyon reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2010, but Aulas said the club is still some way off competing at the very top of the game, having spent the last couple of years building a new home, Parc OL, which they hope can dramatically improve their revenue.
“It’s still far away because we have to accept that Lyon have been in an ‘Arsenal process’, in which we concentrated all our efforts onto real estate instead of players,” he explained. “The marketing of the club needs to improve, so we can attract a sponsor that will allow us to compete with PSG and others. It will take about three years from January 9, 2016 [the date Parc OL opened].
“The group will have a turnover of €200m against less than €100m last year. It’s 100 per cent growth with only half a year in the new stadium, and I think we can raise it to €300m, which I think is essential to be in the top 10 European clubs.”
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And Aulas has set his sights high with the club he wishes to replicate in five years’ time.
“If I was being pretentious, I’d say Bayern Munich,” he said. “Not Dortmund – if I say that it could bring bad luck to one of my colleagues, so I won’t speak about them. But Bayern are the club best prepared for future success.”
Looking ahead to the summer and the transfer market, Aulas has reiterated that he is keen for the club’s stars, such as Alexandre Lacazette and Samuel Umtiti, to remain, but is aware offers may arrive that are too good for them to turn down.
“We want to keep all of our best players but if some of them are certain they want to leave and the deals are hard to push away, we’ll not be idiots like last year. We’ll listen to what they have to say and take account of that,” he said. “Depending on what happens, we’ll adapt our recruitment process.”
The Lyon chief has also spoken about a potentially “spectacular” summer signing if the club finishes in an automatic Champions League spot.
“It could be someone that a great deal is expected of,” he confirmed. “But he could also replace a player who leaves. A player of international standing. We’ll have to wait to see what happens, but if we reach the Champions League we’ll have the ability to make significant efforts in the transfer market.”
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- Goal