Twenty odd years ago, Lyon were the unwavering, dominant force of Ligue 1 football, winning seven straight titles from 2002 to 2008 under the watchful eye of Jean-Michel Aulas.
However, having lost their status as France's top dogs while being plunged into financial oblivion - reportedly saddled with debts of over €500m (£417.8m) - France's Direction Nationale du Controle de Gestion (DNCG) has announced an astonishing provisional demotion to Ligue 2 for Les Gones.
Should Lyon - who currently lie in a respectable fifth place in the Ligue 1 table - not drastically improve their economic situation in the coming months, Pierre Sage's side will unbelievably be competing in the second tier for the 2025-26 season.
A transfer ban has rubbed salt into the wounds for Les Gones, but the club can still sell some of their prized assets to balance the books, and a January firesale is now inevitable as the club desperately try to retain their top-tier status.
Here, Sports Mole looks at four of Lyon's most prized assets who could be targeted by Premier League clubs over the winter.
Rayan Cherki (AM | 21)
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It seems crazy to label Rayan Cherki a veteran of the Lyon scene at just 21 years of age, but the 2003-born starlet is technically one of the club's longest-serving seniors, having broken into the first team at the tender age of 16.
The playmaker made his Lyon debut in the pre-COVID days of 2019 and was unsurprisingly tipped to become one of the world-beaters of the 2020s, but he is yet to truly live up to the hype that came with being a teenage French football prodigy.
Nevertheless, 19 goals and 28 assists from 152 matches is not an atrocious return for a player who still has plenty of football left in his legs, and both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are said to have made checks on him in recent times.
Whether the two English giants reignite their interest in the wake of Friday's bombshell remains to be seen, but with Cherki also due to become a free agent in 2026, selling the 21-year-old should be one of Lyon's first ports of call in January if they are to stave off the drop.
Malick Fofana (LW | 19)
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Another up-and-coming attacker in Sage's ranks - and Lyon's current top scorer in the 2024-25 Ligue 1 season - 19-year-old Malick Fofana has been catching the eye and then some in recent months.
The Belgian starlet left boyhood team Gent to join Lyon in a €19.5m (£16.3m) deal midway through the 2023-24 campaign and quickly became a key man for Sage despite his tender age, making 21 appearances in the second half of last term.
This time around, Fofana has scored five goals and provided two assists in 15 games in all tournaments this term - including an unrivalled three in Ligue 1 - and he made his debut for Belgium's senior team last month.
Primarily a left-winger who is also comfortable on the right and through the middle, Fofana's long-running contract until 2028 should not matter given Lyon's dire situation, although his height - 5ft 5in - may be a slight concern for some clubs.
Maxence Caqueret (CM | 24)
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A Lyon boy born and bred, midfield fulcrum Maxence Caqueret has been on the books at the Groupama Stadium since 2011, progressing through the youth ranks to make 181 appearances for the club at the tender age of 24.
Attacking contributions have not been his real forte - underlined by just seven goals and 15 assists in those games - but Caqueret often acts as the midfield metronome that makes the rest of the Lyon team tick.
A former France youth international who has never made a senior appearance for his country, Caqueret still has a contract until 2027, and it would not be a surprise if the 24-year-old wanted to stay and fight for his club in the doldrums, see Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet at 2006-07 Juventus.
Lyon may not be able to resist a significant offer from the Premier League, though, and Everton are said to have failed with an attempt to bring him to England over the summer.
Georges Mikautadze (ST | 24)
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One of six players to take home a share of the Euro 2024 Golden Boot, Georges Mikautadze - scorer of three goals for Georgia at the continental championships - could be an intriguing attacking option over the winter.
The 24-year-old was born in Lyon and spent seven years in their youth ranks from 2008 to 2015 before deciding that his future lied elsewhere, and it was Metz where he truly made his mark before an unsuccessful spell at Ajax.
Now back at the Groupama Stadium, Mikautadze has managed just two goals in the top flight this season and could be a candidate for the chop in January, when a move to a bottom-half Premier League club should not be out of the question.
As is the case with Fofana, though, Mikautadze is not exactly tall for a striker at 5ft 9in, so some coaches may harbour concerns about how he will stack up against the Premier League's physical monsters.
Ben Knapton
