Lyon turned down chances to sign Nabil Bentaleb and Vitinha in January | OneFootball

Foot Mercato are reporting that Olympique Lyonnais turned down the chance to sign, or at least didn’t act on the chance to sign, Aïssa Laidouni, Nabil Bentaleb and Vitinha during the January transfer window.

Lyon’s transfer window has been much criticised and derided. Despite a diffuse and lengthy list of targets, very few met a successful conclusion for Les Gones, who saw themselves rejected by players and clubs alike. However, Foot Mercato have now revealed that Lyon also turned down the chance to sign many players.

Laidouni, who was a revelation for Tunisia during the World Cup, and who has shone in the Hungarian division, and in Europe with Ferencváros, was turned down by Lyon, despite the Ligue 1 club scouting for very similar profiles. The Tunisian international ultimately went to Union Berlin for a little over €4m.

The club made moves to sign Stade de Reims’ Alexis Flips before turning to sign younger, less experienced targets. Bentaleb was another rejected option, despite his consistent high-level performances for Ligue 1’s bottom side SCO Angers. Perhaps most surprisingly, Lyon had the chance to sign Vitinha from Braga before the Portuguese striker joined fierce rivals Olympique de Marseille for a little over €30m.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle