Seven cut-price stars Premier League clubs should sign from crisis-club Lyon, including a 20-year-old Belgian linked to Liverpool and Chelsea

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

The seven-time champions have been demoted to the second tier of French football due to financial irregularities, after the club last year announced debts of £422million. Lyon confirmed they will appeal against Tuesday’s decision from the French football authorities, which also looks set to cost them their spot in the Europa League.

Whatever happens, player sales are necessary. Lyon have already made a start, selling homegrown jewel Rayan Cherki to Manchester City for £34m earlier in the summer, but there is more work to be done.

Historically one of the best in Europe, Lyon’s youth system produced Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette, Anthony Martial, Nabil Fekir, Samuel Umtiti and Bradley Barcola, yet that cupboard is virtually bare when Lyon need it most. There were precious few Lyon players in France’s age-group squads for international tournaments this summer.

With Cherki gone, Malick Fofana is Lyon’s most attractive prospect, while midfielder Thiago Almada’s situation is delicate – he is on loan from Brazilian club Botafogo who, like Lyon, are owned by John Textor. Ernest Nuamah is sidelined with a serious knee injury sustained in April and will not return for some time.

There are other first-team players on the radar of English clubs, though Lyon’s perilous position means they are trading in a buyer’s market. We have included the transfermarkt value of each player, although the eventual fee may be well below that.

Malick Fofana

Age: 20

Position: Winger

Country: Belgium

Until he was cast aside by Ruben Amorim, most observers named Manchester United forward Alejandro Garnacho among the Premier League’s best young players. The exciting thing about Fofana is how well he compares to the Argentine across a number of metrics.

Yes, the sample size is relatively small. But Fofana, who is a year younger than Garnacho, edged his rival in a number of categories when both were aged 19. According to FBref StatHead, 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 league - Fofana was a vital part of the starting XI.

Lyon would be looking for more than the £17m they paid Gent 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 now, with Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham all linked.

Transfermarkt value: £25.6m

Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez

Age: 17

Position: Forward

Country: England/Venezuela/Portugal

The Southampton academy product was born in Venezuela, but has chosen to play for England and caught the eye in the recent European Under-17 Championships.

The mobile forward scored four goals in three matches and would surely have finished with a better tally had England progressed beyond the group phase.

Rodriguez left Saints last summer to move to France and made his senior debut against Lens in May. ‘I had been playing on the wing for Southampton, but I said to myself that I want to be a striker and I told Lyon when I moved that I wanted to be a striker and I want to score goals,’ he said. He has made a promising start, too, with 12 goals and three assists in 22 games in France’s various age-group competitions.

‘It's obviously a different kind of football from in England, but you get used to it and that's what I’ve managed to do in the last six months,’ Rodriguez added.

He might be back in England sooner than he would have imagined.

Transfermarkt value: £85k

Thiago Almada

Age: 24

Position: Midfield

Country: Argentina

Almada is a key man for Argentina and has enhanced his reputation during his loan spell at Lyon during the second half of last season.

Now the tricky bit. Almada’s parent club is Botafogo, the Brazilian club currently involved in the Club World Cup. They are owned by John Textor, who is also in control of Lyon – much to the fury of a significant section of their supporters.

Almada has admirers in the Premier League and across the European elite, with Benfica – who have a strong record with Argentine players – also showing a firm interest. Lyon will want to cash in, but how do they do so when Almada officially belongs to another club? Will they be able to buy him from Botafogo before selling him at a profit?

Either way, we are unlikely to see Almada in Lyon colours next season.

Transfermarkt value: £21.3m

Ainsley Maitland-Niles

Age: 27

Position: Defence/Midfield

Country: England

The former Arsenal man is not a transfer target to set pulses racing, but he has proved he can handle the top level and is calm, experienced and adaptable. He could be just the player for a side fighting to stay in the Premier League, or a valuable squad member for one with higher ambitions.

Maitland-Niles played 32 games last term and his versatility is a huge asset. He can play at right back and in two midfield positions, right side or central.

With Maitland-Niles having joined Lyon on a free transfer two years ago, they will make a profit from any sale.

Transfermarkt value: £10.2m

Lucas Perri

Age: 27

Position: Goalkeeper

Country: Brazil

Thanks to Alisson and Ederson, Brazilian goalkeepers are big business in the Premier League. Although Perri is not on the level of his countrymen, he has shown enough in Ligue 1 to suggest he could do a solid job in England.

Perri, who is 6ft 5ins, kept 13 clean sheets in all competitions last season and is an excellent age, old enough to understand what is required and young enough to still have plenty of miles on the clock. Though he has yet to make his debut for Brazil, Perri has been in many squads and will be desperate to make the cut for next summer’s World Cup.

Transfermarkt value: £8.5m

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 joins Liverpool this summer and Mikautadze may follow him to the Premier League.

A star of Georgia’s Euro 2024 campaign, Mikautadze is a cracking player. He joined Lyon only last summer after two successful seasons at Metz and produced 11 goals and six assists.

Mikautadze was born in France 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 nobody else will care.

Transfermarkt value: £18.8m

Johann Lepenant

Age: 22

Position: Midfield

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 a fan, naming Lepenant among his back-up players for last summer’s Olympic football tournament.

After a promising start at Lyon, Lepenant suffered a knee injury that kept him out for three months and never managed to regain his spot in the first team. It was only last season, when Lyon allowed him to join Nantes on loan, that he rediscovered his spark, helping them avoid relegation.

He can play either as a No 10 or deeper in midfield, preferably as part of a three. Lepenant has been an important member of the France Under-21 side who took on Germany in Wednesday’s semi-final.

Transfermarkt value: £5.1m