Manchester United have travelled to France to face Lyon in the Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.
Paul Akouokou could be a ‘big surprise’ in the Ligue 1 club’s starting XI to face Manchester United.
That’s according to L’Equipe, who state Lyon manager Paulo Fonseca could hand the 27-year-old a rare start.
The Ivory Coast international arrived at Lyon from Real Betis in 2023 and struggled for a prominent role so far. To put it in context, he played 320 minutes from 11 games and only two minutes were from this season.
Akouokou last started for the French club in their 3-0 loss to Marseille in December 2023. Since then, he played 21 minutes from five games in all competitions. Fonseca needs to decide whether to start the midfielder and Alexandre Lacazette against the Red Devils.
Lyon midfielder Tanner Tessmann misses the clash due to personal reasons. According to L’Equipe, Fonseca will make the final decision on Thursday afternoon whether to start Akouokou or another midfielder.
If he were to go for the second option, the report indicates Corentin Tolisso could drop into midfield to play alongside Jordan Veretout. Georges Mikautadze can take the former Bayern Munich man’s place in Lyon’s attack and vacate his place up front for Lacazette.
Either way, Akouokou han’t been prominent at Lyon, and it’ll be a surprise if he were to start against Manchester United.
