Olympique Lyonnais is actively preparing for the new season, with a schedule including a friendly match against the Getafe FC on August 9, a week before the start of the championship against Lens. This last match, which will take place at the Pierre-Rajon stadium in Bourgoin-Jaillieu, marks the end of an intense summer preparation. The club has already played three friendly games, with mixed results, and plans to face Majorka and Bayern Munich before focusing on League 1. At the same time, the club undertook important work at the Groupama Stadium, including the replacement of the lawn to avoid problems encountered the previous season, with a recovery date scheduled for 23 August, the date of the reception of Metz.

The arrival of young talents is a priority for OL, illustrated by the acquisition of 20-year-old Portuguese winger Afonso Moreira and Dutch defender Ruben Kluivert. Moreira, trained at the Sporting CP, is seen as a technical player, fast and vertical, who aims to restore Lyon’s place in Ligue 1. Its recruitment is part of a strategy of expenditure control, dictated by the financial constraints imposed by the DNCG. The club also organised promotional events on social networks, such as a guided tour of the internship hotel in Austria, offering an overview of the facilities available to the players.

The club was also confronted with controversies regarding the involvement of Jean-Michel Aulas in obtaining retention in Ligue 1. The OL Supervisory Board referred the matter to the National Ethics Council (CNE) following comments made by Aulas, which were considered inappropriate. The CNE finally laundered Aulas, considering his statements “unrighteous” and not a breach of ethical principles. In the area of summer mercato, OL takes a measured approach, with an investment of EUR 5.7 million, focusing on recruits with potential rather than excessive spending, while respecting the financial constraints and monitoring of the DNCG.