Eight cut-price stars Premier League clubs should sign from cash-strapped Lyon including a Cole Palmer clone

Right now, Lyon could do with finding the next Karim Benzema to sell to the Premier League.

The seven-times champions of France face relegation to the second tier at the end of the season if they cannot put their finances in order, after the club recently announced debts of £422million.

Under current spending rules, the easiest way to make the balance sheet look healthier would be to sell players in January. Historically one of the best in Europe, Lyon’s youth system produced Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette, Hatem Ben Arfa, Anthony Martial, Nabil Fekir, Samuel Umtiti and Bradley Barcola yet the cupboard is virtually bare when Lyon need it most.

Attacker Rayan Cherki and midfielder Maxence Caqueret are homegrown but neither is a sure-fire bet, Johann Lepenant has yet to take the decisive step and 17-year-old Enzo Molebe – not included here – is untested. Players like Alexandre Lacazette and Corentin Tolisso are proven but their ages, contracts and wages make them unlikely targets.

Handily for Lyon, they have plenty of first-teamers on the radar of Premier League clubs, though their perilous position means they are trading in a buyer’s market – so they should be available to your club at a cut-price value.

We have included the transfermarkt value of each player, although the eventual fee may be well below that.

They are famed for producing quality players such as Karim Benzema through their academy

Mail Sport explores eight options – including a star similar to Chelsea favourite Cole Palmer 

Rayan Cherki

Age: 21

Position: Attacking midfielder/winger

Country: France/Algeria/Italy

Born in France and courted by both Algeria and Italy, Cherki’s uncertain international situation reflects his career path so far. How can a player with such extravagant gifts still be uncapped at senior international level? Why is he even still at Lyon?

Let’s start on the pitch. Cherki can play as an attacking midfielder or on either flank. He is capable of creating and scoring goals and is comfortable with either foot.

He has made more than 150 appearances and does not turn 22 until August. On respected stats database StatHead, the list of players deemed to be a similar style and level as Cherki includes Cole Palmer, Ousmane Dembele and Florian Wirtz. What is not to like?

There have been always question marks about Cherki’s manner around the squad and his willingness to work hard off the ball. Yet sheer ability alone means he is worth a punt, especially with only 18 months left on his contract and Lyon in such a weak spot.

Possible landing spots: Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United

Transfermarkt value: £16.7m

Rayan Cherki is well worth a punt based on his sheer ability – and is deemed similar to Palmer 

Malick Fofana

Age: 19

Position: Winger

Country: Belgium

Ask people to list the Premier League’s best young players and most will name Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho. The exciting thing about Fofana is how well he tracks against the Argentine across a number of metrics.

Yes, the sample size is small. But Fofana, who is a year younger than Garnacho, edges his rival under a number of categories when both were aged 19. Fofana is more prolific, hits the target more often and beats his opponent more frequently with the ball at his feet.

The left winger still has much to prove but it is exciting that, with such turmoil off the field and in his first full season in a top-five European league, Fofana is already a vital part of the starting XI.

Lyon would be looking for more than the £17m they paid last summer. Fofana was courted by Guinea as a youngster but chose Belgium, the country of his birth, instead. There may be more than two in the race for his services in January.

Possible landing spots: Arsenal, Brighton, Tottenham

Transfermarkt value: £12.6m

Malick Fofana could be the answer to Alejandro Garnacho and has become vital for Lyon

Gift Orban

Age: 22

Position: Forward

Country: Nigeria

Halfway through the 2022-23 season, a young Nigerian forward in Belgium started to produce goalscoring numbers like few had ever seen.

After joining Gent from Norwegian club Stabaek in January 2023, Orban scored twice on his debut, a 3-3 draw at Westerlo. He went on to score 12 times in his next 10 matches, including seven goals in the space of four days against Waregem in the league and Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir in the Conference League. Was this the next Erling Haaland?

On subsequent evidence, the answer to that question is still a firm ‘no’. Orban still finished with 20 in 22 games that season but the following one was quieter, with only 15 in 46 matches for Gent and Lyon. This season he has two from five appearances.

Despite that early flurry, Orban does not look an elite forward of the future. Yet he can certainly finish and for clubs who know a 10-goal striker could be the difference between Premier League and Championship football next season, that is undoubtedly tempting.

Possible landing spots: Leicester, Brentford, West Ham

Transfermarkt value: £12.6m

Gift Orban is a decent option for sides lower down the table and was initially lethal in Belgium

Maxence Caqueret

Age: 24

Position: Defensive midfielder

Country: France

It is hard to know what to make of Caqueret. Watch him at the centre of a three-man midfield in a team dominating the ball and he can look as impressive as anyone in France. His delivery from set-pieces is reliable, he is calm in possession and he works very hard.

Take a look at his heat map from last season – Caqueret was everywhere, represented by a huge dollop of red covering virtually the entire pitch.

And yet. Three years after his breakout season, Caqueret has not yet taken the next step. His international career tells its own story: 24 caps for France’s Under 21s but yet to join up with the big boys.

Competition for places in France’s midfield is fierce yet Real Madrid star Aurelien Tchouameni is the same age as Caqueret and has already played 38 times for his country.

Perhaps Caqueret just needs a change of scenery. He is certainly worth the effort.

Possible landing spots: Aston Villa, Newcastle, Bournemouth

Transfermarkt value: £15.1m

Midfielder Maxence Caqueret looks like he could play for France but has not taken that next step. A change of scenery could hugely benefit him

Said Benrahma

Age: 29

Position: Winger

Country: Algeria

The former West Ham man is a proven Premier League operator. Though he could frustrate coaches and supporters alike, Benrahma’s balance sheet in the top tier of English football reads 110 games, 15 goals and 16 assists, and he is a reliable dead-ball and penalty taker, too.

Given his talent and experience, Benrahma would be a strong addition to clubs in the bottom half of the Premier League. His representatives have strong connections in the English game and would have no problems circulating his availability around the English top flight.

When Benrahma moved to Lyon, he said he was delighted to be back in France. Yet the return proved bittersweet as the Algeria international has started only seven games this term, leaving him frustrated. A return to England looks the best option for all parties.

Possible landing spots: Wolves, Crystal Palace, Everton

Transfermarkt value: £12.6m

It has been a tricky return to France for Said Benrahma – returning to England is his best option 

Ernest Nuamah

Age: 21

Position: Winger

Country: Ghana

Nuamah might already be in the Premier League had things gone differently last summer. According to reports in France, the Ghanaian was undergoing a medical at Fulham before deciding at the 11th hour that he did not want to go through with the move. There was also strong interest in him from Everton.

Nuamah may have no choice in the matter this time, though his stock is not as high as it was last summer. He has started only twice in Ligue 1, registering just 176 minutes in total, but it would be no surprise if the interest from England is rekindled again.

He took a familiar route to Europe, joining Nordsjaelland in Denmark thanks to their partnership with the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana, before making his Lyon debut in the 2023-24 season. Ghana failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations but a Premier League transfer could be the ideal pick-me-up for Nuamah.

Possible landing spots: Fulham, Everton, Brentford, Bournemouth

Transfermarkt value: £15.1m

Fulham’s move for Ernest Nuamah fell through in the summer while Everton were also intrigued

Georges Mikautadze

Age: 24

Position: Forward

Country: Georgia

From Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Giorgi Mamardashvili, from Giorgi Chakvetadze to Saba Goglichidze, Georgian football is big business right now. Mamardashvili will move to Liverpool next summer and Mikautadze might reach the Premier League even sooner.

A star of Georgia’s Euro 2024 campaign who shared the Golden Boot with three goals, Mikautadze is a cracking player. He joined Lyon only last summer after two successful seasons at Metz and though he has scored only twice in his first 15 games, he has been a fixture in the team and threatens the goal regularly, taking more than four shots per game, mainly from inside the penalty area.

Mikautadze was born in Lyon to Georgian parents and was only four when his mother predicted he would become a footballer.

He cannot resist khinkali, a traditional Georgian dish that resembles dumplings. Premier League nutritionists may wince at that but if he scores goals, will anybody else care?

Possible landing spots: Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Fulham

Transfermarkt value: £16.7m

Georges Mikautadze was a breakout star with Georgia at Euro 2024 and is a good goal threat

Johann Lepenant, on loan at Nantes, is a versatil midfielder who caught Arsenal’s eye as a teen

Johann Lepenant

Age: 22

Position: Central midfielder

Country: France

As a teenager, Lepenant drew interest from Arsenal and there were many envious glances in Lyon’s direction when they won the race for him in summer 2022, paying second-tier club Caen £4m for his services. Thierry Henry is also a fan, naming Lepenant among his back-up players for last summer’s Olympic football tournament.

After a promising start at Lyon, Lepenan t suffered a knee injury that kept him out for three months and never managed to regain his spot in the first team. It is only this season, when Lyon allowed him to join Nantes on loan, that Lepenant has rediscovered the spark that made top clubs in France and beyond so interested in him.

He can play either as a No10 or deeper in midfield, preferably as part of three. Currently sidelined with a calf problem, Lepenant has been badly missed by Nantes, who are sliding towards the relegation zone.

Possible landing spots: Crystal Palace, Wolves, Ipswich

Transfermarkt value: £5.9m