New Lyon owner aims to end the dominance of Paris Saint-Germain in France

Majority shareholder at Olympique Lyonnais, John Textor, aims to upstage Paris Saint-Germain from their pedestal at the top of French football.

The American investor is not impressed with the PSG model but wants to make Lyon competitive again.

The Ligue 1 is a one-team league with Paris Saint-Germain holding sway. The dictatorial control of the Paris club in France bothers on nauseating. It irritates the football purists and the neutrals, knowing that the funds that made PSG a football force runs against FFP.

The French champions are perhaps the most hated club in France as its followership is not organic. That PSG can spend the kind of money they do without recourse to Financial Fair Play (FFP), questions the ethics by which UEFA operates. It has made Ligue 1 non-competitive and forced Europe to look up.

The sentiment over PSG is shared by other clubs in France, with the desire to challenge the dominance of the Qatar-funded club.

American investor John Textor who became the majority shareholder in Lyon on Tuesday is targeting PSG and hopes to knock them off the top pedestal.

Challenging the dominance of PSG

PSG have won ten Ligue 1 titles, with eight coming in the last decade. Saying it is the influx of state funds into the club that made it a force to reckon with would not be far from the truth. While the Paris club have struggled and failed to become European royalty, problems seem to be brewing at home for PSG.

There is a new kid on the block, ready to challenge the crown worn by PSG.

The last time Lyon won the French Ligue 1 was 12 years ago. It has been a struggle to remain relevant amid the lavish and unaccountable spending of PSG. The majority shareholder at Lyon John Textor says enough is enough. The American investor isn’t in France to only make money off the club - he wants to return Lyon to the top pedestal of French football.

Last season, Lyon finished in eighth place, 25 points behind PSG. How do you compete with a team with superstars like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Sergio Ramos?

Creating a new order

Textor wants a change to the order in France football. He intends to upstage PSG from the top pedestal.

At a news conference in Lyon, Textor said he didn’t like the models like PSG. He complimented PSG for having a great team. PSG is full of great athletes that people love to watch, but Textor is unimpressed with the model at play.

Textor said that Lyon want to win titles and that they’d go after PSG.

Lyon has a deal with Eagle Football Holdings, which belongs to Textor. Part of the deal is the promise of capital injection into the club for player transfer. Lyon would receive 86 million euros ($90 million) as part of the deal.

Lyon are now part of the international soccer portfolio owned by Textor. The other clubs in the portfolio are Brazilian club Botafogo, Crystal Palace of the English Premier League and Molenbeek in Belgium. Textor also praised the finances at Lyon and highlighted their potential for revenue-earning from expertise in sports, entertainment and technology.

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