Lichtsteiner Attracts Lyon and Real Madrid

By: Julien | June 4th, 2008

After yesterday’s very quiet news day for Lille, several transfer news have emerged today. According to the Swiss press, Stephan Lichtsteiner has discussed a potential move to Real Madrid. Lichtsteiner at Madrid? Is he really Real Madrid material? I don’t think so. It sounds to me like the Swiss media is responsible for this rumor. However, I am not completely discrediting a possible Real Madrid transfer since Olympique Lyonnais is also reportedly interested. We will see what unfolds in the days ahead.

Signing: Lille has signed Danish international, Emil Lyng. I don’t know much about this player, but I guess Seydoux and Puel see something in him. He is only 19 years old making him a perfect fit in the club’s “grow young talent” approach. Lyng’s last club was AGF Arhus (Aarhus Gymnastikforening- a mouthful right?) where he played the midfield position. A pretty boring signing for Lille, really. He cost LOSC 400,000 euros.

Sleeper Transfers: Usually past transfer windows for Lille have consisted of a couple notable potential new recruits and several “sleeper transfers.” The LOSC management takes a look at a lot of players that are not too well known. Sometimes these “sleeper transfers” turn out to be nice surprises and other times they just flop. Three new midfielders have been added to LOSC’s wishlist: Abdelmajid Oulmers,Yves Desmarets, and Sofiane Feghouli. Oumels is an aging 30 year old Moroccan that currently plays for Royal Charleroi Sporting Club in the Belgian Jupiler League. I am more interested in Yves Desmarets out of these three footballers. Desmarets has caught the eyes of numerous clubs including Benfica, Sochaux, AEK Athens, and Saint-Étienne. The French midfielder currently plays for Vitória Sport Clube in the Portuguese Super Liga. The Super Liga is one of the top leagues of Europe. It is not up there with the EPL, La Liga, and Serie A, but many consider it to be in the same league as Ligue 1, Eredivisie, and Bundesliga. Without a doubt Desmarets has played more talented players than Oumels and Feghouli. That matters when you transition to Le Championnat. Sofiane Feghouli has only played in Ligue 2 with Grenoble Foot 38. If Seydoux and others are so interested in Feghouli, they should wait till the end of the 2008/09 Ligue 1 season to see how well he will play in Ligue 1. Grenoble was recently promoted to top division French football after placing third in Ligue 2.

Departures: According to Foot Transferts, Tony Sylva wants to go to Rennes instead of Nice. Either side would be a good choice for the Senegalese keeper, but maybe Rennes would be a better choice. I have heard that the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region is known for fascism and xenophobia. Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the Front National party, is really successful in that region. I am just saying that it is something to consider for Sylva. You have racism everywhere anyway, and not everyone in the southeastern part of France is racist. I am really sad to see Rio Mavuba leaving. Olympique de Marseille and PSG are on the talented midfielder. I see him most likely go to either club. They can offer him a lot more money than Lille can. He was loaned to Lille last season by Villareal. His short stay made an impact during the closing weeks of the season.