Why Arsenal Target Yoann Gourcuff Should Stay to Prove Himself at Lyon

Brilliant, frustrating, sublime and enigmatic are four words that can describe Lyon playmaker Yoann Gourcuff.

However, you can’t use one without using the others.

Occasional flashes of brilliance are followed by moments of sheer frustration. For every sublime piece of skill or passage of play, the 27-year-old then follows it up with a string of disappointing displays.

Sadly, the man who was once hailed as the ‘the new Zidane’ by The Independent among others, has never reproduced the form that saw his rise to prominence with Laurent Blanc’s Bordeaux.

In 2009, he inspired Les Girondins to a first Ligue 1 title in 10 years while on loan from AC Milan, securing the club’s first ever Championnat-Coupe de la Ligue double.

The six-time league winners paid big money to secure his signature permanently from the Italian giants. 

The success predicted after his first season at the Stade Chaban Delmas never materialized, and one year later, the French international was sold for an at-that-time staggering 22 million Euros to Lyon. 

Considering that Bordeaux had paid almost 15 million 12 months before that, the price tag has not helped the player or Lyon and its owner Jean-Michel Aulas since.

The former Rennes man has been nothing but an injury-hit disappointment ever since he arrived at the Stade Gerland.

It is telling that going into his fourth season with the one-time French giants, he has not even come close to playing 100 games in the league yet. In fact, he has not even hit double figures yet and has only scored eight goals for OL in three years. 

Yet Gourcuff is still considered a big name player, and a quality one at that, outside of France. 

Perhaps it is because Ligue 1 gets very little coverage outside of these shores, with the exception of Paris Saint-Germain and now Monaco, that many are unaware how far Gourcuff’s star has fallen.

However, despite recent protestations that the Frenchman will stay at the cash-strapped club (h/t ESPN FC), the talk of him leaving raises a serious problem for Les Gones.

Firstly, there is almost no way that the seven-time Ligue 1 winners will recoup the enormous money that they splashed on him in 2010. 

Secondly, he is by far the highest wage earner on the club’s books. 

Yet, no clubs will take a serious interest in him because of those reasons and his poor history with injuries. 

His time with AC Milan, having signed as a talented youngster from Rennes, was blighted by injuries and time spent on the sidelines.

With so much being made of a long-standing interest from Arsenal in Gourcuff (h/t ESPN FC), it is little wonder that Arsene Wenger has not made a move. 

The 29-times capped mercurial talent is no doubt a player that the Gunners coach was aware of as he developed through the youth ranks in his early years. 

But make no mistake; the boy is now damaged goods.

Having had to face accusations of favoritism, falling out of love with football and failing to settle in with his teammates during his time at Lyon (h/t ESPN FC), people have started to question when we will once again see the real Gourcuff. 

That question should not be a ‘when,’ but an ‘if.’

Aulas has been trying to trim the wage bill annually for the last few seasons, getting rid of the most inefficient and over-paid of his stars as Lyon fall further from the summit of French football.

Gourcuff tops that list, but Aulas has yet to admit defeat with his most costliest ever signing.

Instead, Aulas has to offset the club’s annual financial obligations to its shareholders, the club is listed on the French stock exchange, by selling some of the more valuable young talents as it proves difficult to flog the older ones.

So far, Aulas and Remi Garde have managed to keep hold of the likes of Maxime Gonalons, Clement Grenier, Samuel Umtiti, Gueida Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette. 

But another season of under-performance and he won’t be able to.

Should Lyon sell Gourcuff now at cut-price, it is not only a massive loss but also an admission of failure.

Whatever money they earn, it would likely not guarantee the futures of the other promising young members of the side.

Instead, Lyon should keep Gourcuff and persevere. 

If he can regain the form that he showed fleetingly for Bordeaux, his market value will recover and it would be possible for the club to recoup most, if not all, of their initial heavy investment.

Selling now at a loss also means that Aulas and Garde would then have to find another replacement at lower cost, something that will prove difficult and will undoubtedly result in a further loss in quality. 

Putting their faith in Gourcuff is the least risky option for both parties, but for him it should be an incentive.

He has little left to lose in a career that so far has promised much, but delivered very little.

A move to another club, particularly a foreign one, could be the end of his career unless he is out of the malaise that has affected him thus far in Lyon. 

For OL, a fit and on-form Gourcuff could make them outsiders for a title challenge on his presence alone.