Olympique Lyonnais Wants To Sign A Real Madrid Player – Will Florentino Perez Accept?

The Ligue 1 giants Olympique Lyonnais are keen on re-signing former attacker

Spanish news outlet Defensa Central reports that Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz is one of the targets of Olympique Lyonnais. The French outfit is, in fact, looking to re-sign the forward in this summer transfer window. They have reportedly contacted Real over a possible move ahead of the 2022-2023 season.

The forward in question is currently serving his second stint with the Los Blancos. He made a comeback to La Liga in the summer of 2018 from Olympique Lyonnais. However, his return has not quite worked out the way he would have wanted to.

Over the past four years, he has had to play as backup despite inheriting Cristiano Ronaldo’s number 7 shirt. Ever since the Portuguese departed in 2018, Karim Benzema has taken the mantle up quite responsibly and has delivered too.

As a result, chances have come far and few for the backup striker sporting the number seven on his back. The 28-year-old has only seen 400 minutes on the pitch this season, making 11 appearances. He has managed to chip in with a solitary goal and an assist. Quite understandably, his frustrations seem to have reached the limit.

As things stand, he himself is reportedly ready for a summer move and there certainly are quite a few suitors. One of those is his former club, Lyon, who are really keen on bringing him back to the Ligue 1.

Will the move go through?

Memphis Depay leaving Lyon for Barcelona last summer on a free deal left a void in their attacking lineup. Something that they have not managed to fill ever since. On top of it, the Les Gones may also face the departure of Moussa Dembele this summer. Manchester United are reportedly interested in his services.

All this has made Mariano a viable option for his former club who is in desperate need of a striker. They have even reached out to Real Madrid in an attempt to discuss the transfer ahead of the next season.

While the Los Blancos may not object to the player’s move, they are expected to slap a price tag. The report claims the amount to be around 6 million Euros. It is quite affordable and falls under the budget of even a club that spends as miserly as Olympique Lyon.

Meanwhile, the name of Henrique Araujo has emerged recently as a candidate to replace Mariano at Real Madrid. It would be interesting to see how the plot pans out this summer.