Wednesday, September 1st, 2021
With “Explosion” to Lyon
Boateng challenges Messi’s super team
Needed by David
Nobody expected this change: Jérôme Boateng is hired in Lyon after his contract with Bayern Munich expires. Even if it is a small step backwards without the Champions League, in Ligue 1 he has to put Messi in his place – and thus hopes for the national team again.
After it had become quiet around Jérôme Boateng, the Rio world champion let a small exchange bomb burst on the last day of the transfer window. Olympique Lyon. Ligue 1. Hardly anyone expected that. The French sports magazine “L’Équipe” even wrote of an “explosion at the end of the summer market”. The clubless defender, whose contract with Bayern Munich expired in June, was more likely to be associated with Lazio Rome, FC Sevilla or Hertha BSC, where his half-brother Kevin-Prince Boateng has also been playing since the summer. But nothing came of a reunification, probably also because Hertha does not play European.
So now Lyon. According to “L’Équipe”, the club from the historic French Rhône-Alpes region succeeded in threading the deal with a two-year contract on just one day, Tuesday yesterday. Above all, a long conversation between the former Bundesliga coach Peter Bosz, who is on the sidelines from this season, and Boateng, in which the coach explained his project, his style and his ambitions in detail, should have been decisive.
On Tuesday evening, Lyon’s sporting director, Juninho Boateng, met him at the airport, after which the 32-year-old had to undergo the mandatory medical check. Officially, it will be presented this Wednesday at 3 p.m., as the well-informed French journalist Hugo Guillemet reports. The native of Berlin must have signed his contract by noon in order to be registered for the Europa League.
Messi, Neymar and Mbappé are waiting
After conceding 43 goals (champions Lille only managed 23 goals) last season, Lyon could use a defensive support. The “L’Équipe” therefore called the transfer a “masterpiece” of the orienteering officials. But for Boateng the change is a small step backwards. Until recently, he had hoped to find a place at a real European top club so that he could once again compete with the best in the premier class. However, OL did not qualify for the Champions League last season, behind OSC Lille, Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco, the team only came in fourth. With that, however, OL is at least playing in the Europa League, where Boateng will be allowed to play against Sparta Prague, Brondy IF and the Glasgow Rangers in the future.
The Rio world champion also has to accept cuts in salary. If he earned an extremely princely 12 million euros a year at Bayern, it should now be “only” half of that. Since 2018 there have been rumors about a change in Munich. For ten years Boateng defended striker after striker at FC Bayern and won, among other things, the two triples in 2013 and 2020. Not always without criticism of himself and his game (especially ex-President Uli Hoeneß liked to shoot against the former national player), but the defensive giant Always fought his way back from small lows and convinced time and again with strong, sometimes outstanding performances.
In Ligue 1, which is generally weaker than the German Bundesliga, Boateng can now prove himself against Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. The brilliant trio stayed together after much speculation about change because PSG also rejected a 200 million euro offer from Real Madrid. At least in the back of his mind, Boateng hopes to be interesting for the national team with good performances against such offensive stars and possibly to experience another World Cup. Joachim Löw had sorted out the ex-Bayern after the 2018 World Cup together with Mats Hummels and Thomas Müller, but, unlike the other two professionals, did not reactivate it for the European Championship in the summer.
Mental restart?
But because the new national coach Hansi Flick doesn’t care about Löw’s age principle and only wants to nominate the best, Boateng can raise his hopes again when he performs. Under Flick, the defender was promoted to regular defender again after a hole in Munich and experienced a career high that resulted in an 8-2 win against Messi and FC Barcelona and in the Champions League win against PSG. Whether against Messi, Neymar, or Mbappé: Boateng does not face any easy tasks in Ligue 1. Olympique Lyon are currently only ninth after just one win from their first four games.
Perhaps Boateng is also hoping for a mental restart in France. More calm and a little less public attention. Off the field, the 32-year-old recently made headlines because he was on trial in September after allegedly throwing a glass object at his then partner in 2018. The Munich public prosecutor’s office is also investigating Boateng for bodily harm to the detriment of his last ex-girlfriend, Kasia Lenhardt. These proceedings were temporarily suspended in July 2020 after the suicide of the 25-year-old, which had sparked much speculation, but has been resumed.
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