Former Lyon, Botafogo and Molenbeek coach Claudio Caçapa has admitted John Textor is leaving the players at the clubs a little lost as he looks to sell his Crystal Palace shares to keep Lyon afloat.
La Tribune de Lyon have an interview with the former defender today in which they discuss the current turmoil surrounding the Eagle Football Group and particularly Lyon.
The French side have been hit with preliminary punishments by the French Football Watchdog, the DNCG, over rising debts at the club.
They’re currently banned from signing players in the January transfer window and have been provisionally relegated to Ligue 2, dated for the end of the season, if their finances don’t improve in the coming months.
Textor has been bullish about the situation, insisting he will sell players from his other clubs and his shares in Crystal Palace and use that money to keep Lyon safe from danger.
Quite how this will work hasn’t been detailed, with the American businessman simply insisting that his network of clubs, which includes Botafogo in Brazil and Molenbeek in Belgium, will help keep their French counterparts afloat.
That’s all well and good according to Caçapa, but the reality is that the players at the club, and even Crystal Palace, will be left in the dark over the process.
“It’s scary. I’m scared. It’s like finances at home: I have a debt of €1k, it’s nothing. But a month later it’s €1.1k, a year later €3k. Now, it’s €500m!” he said.
“When you look at Bordeaux… They started like that. John says he is calm, he is not afraid. He knows where this money is going to come from. You have to trust him.
“It is complicated. That is why I am not even trying to find out! Because in any case, I am not going to understand! I do not know how he does it. You have to know everything at Crystal Palace, at Molenbeek, at Botafogo, at OL… You have to master everything!
“The players do not think about that. And a player will leave for Botafogo if he wants to, otherwise he will not go. Nobody is obliged to do anything!
“When I have contact with people from the club, we don’t talk about that. You have to trust. Nobody understands all this, except Textor! He’s the one who has the key, who knows the manoeuvres he’s made.”
