Former Arsenal Player Pascal Cygan May Return To Lille

By: Julien | June 21st, 2008

Former Arsenal and current Villareal defender Pascal Cygan wants to return to Lille. After several years with Lille (1995-2002) he moved to Arsenal. Then in 2006 to La Liga’s Villareal CF. Cygan was actually born in Lens home to Lille’s Ligue 2 rival, RC Lens. Cygan had this to say about a possible return:
“Unfortunately, there are still things that are hindering this return. Certainly, Lille is still my preferred choice.”
That is interesting to see him want to come back to Lille after Claude Puel’s departure. Cygan left the club during Puel’s first year. I don’t recall a falling out back then, but maybe they did have bad relations.

According to Troyes’ website they have officially acquired Lille’s young defender Jérémy Taravel. Taravel just signed a professional contract with Lille last season. Prior to the signing, he played for our division 4 squad. Supposedly, he did not play a single Ligue 1 match last season for Lille. Not a big loss for the club.

LOSC may be close to signing Florent Balmont. He currently plays for OGC Nice. Balmont was a priority signing for Claude Puel and has thus far stayed that way under Garcia’s short time as manager. Nice wants 2.5 million euros for Balmont. He plays the defensive midfielder position and is supposed to be Jean II Makoun’s replacement. Makoun is a talented footballer. Balmont=/=Makoun. Let’s hope that he can support our defense next season. Garcia’s Le Mans side let in 49 goals last season compared to Lille’s 32. They finished with a goal differential of -3. We will obviously need tight defenders under Garcia.

Michel Seydoux spoke more about Claude Puel yesterday. His words:
“Claude Puel. I wish him good look and the same for everyone. I hope that he will finish with Lyon!”
Claude Puel used to manage Lille, but recently signed a four year contract with Ligue 1 powerhouse Olympique Lyonnais. Like I said before, Michel Seydoux made a foolish deal with Lyon. He should not have gave them Claude Puel. The move only made Lyon a lot stronger hurting the competitiveness of the league. Puel should have moved to a club outside of Ligue 1 or to a different Ligue 1 club. Anywhere, but Lyon. He just guaranteed Lyon another Hexagoal! Poor decision from Seydoux.

Will Rudi Garcia Bring Le Mans Players To Lille? Corey said it is probable and yesterday our new manager spoke about it. Garcia said that they have some excellent players, but he isn’t sure if they will make it over to LOSC. Le Tallec maybe?

Another attacking possibility for Lille is Willian Borges da Silva. The Brazilian offensive midfielder plays for Shakhtar Donetsk. Willian has a beautiful dribbling technique. He was transferred from SC Corinthians to his current in 2007 for 15 million euros. I hate to be stereotypical, but any Brazilian footballer is okay with me! We currently have just two Brazilians: Emerson and Bastos. I love Bastos’ football by the way.

Oscar Ewolo, one of Lille’s mercato interests, is expected to sign with Stade Rennais soon. LOSC management has been trying to sign him for awhile now. We are most likely going to miss out on this one. He doesn’t really interest me. Ewolo is 29 years old and the majority of his career was played in Ligue 2 for Amiens. I wish he had more division 1 experience. Also, Lille’s Larsen Touré may continue his loan at Grenoble. So yet again a lot of transfer news, but few results. We still need a new goalkeeper, a defensive midfielder to replace Makoun, and a suitable attacker that can help out Mirallas.