In an ideal world, Olympique Lyonnais wants their first choice, Georges Mikautadze (24), however, with the Transfer Deadline showing up, the club still has to collect slightly less than € 40 million from players' sales to meet the promises that are on the DNCG and UEFA.
It means that Mikautadze, just like Malick Fofana, would be sold if a strong offer came in and the player accepted the move. A strong offer came in for Fofana, from Everton, but the Belgian rejected the move to Merseyside.
Mikautadze is now the leading candidate to leave, and according to L'équipe, Lyon uses the UEFA Champions League -similar play to speak with Villarreal, who have shown interest in the Georgian. There will be a first meeting between the two clubs in Monaco in the coming hours.
OL demands € 35 million for Mikautadze. Villarreal is not the only club that is interested. Burnley is also in for the Center-Forward and L'équipe understands that they are able to get the asking price. An unnamed Saudi Arabian club is also in the race.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle