Louisa Necib is leaving Lyon.
Thursday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final could be bittersweet no matter what for Lyon.
The 10-time defending French champions confirmed this week that forward Lotta Schelin and midfielder Louisa Necib will leave the club this offseason. All-world midfielder Amandine Henry previously announced that she is leaving Lyon after nine years to join Portland Thorns FC in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Thursday’s UEFA Champions League final against Wolfsburg will be the final match for all three players at Lyon, which is aiming for a third European crown. Wolfsburg defeated Lyon in the 2013 final to claim the first of its back-to-back crowns.
[PREVIEW: Lyon, Wolfsburg aim for third UWCL title in Italy on Thursday]
Henry was formally announced as a Portland Thorns signing in March and she will join the club in June. She said in a story published this week that she chose the new adventure of playing in the U.S. in large part because of the competitive matches week in and week out, something she doesn’t get in France, where Lyon and PSG are figuratively in their own league, with PSG always challenging for but never winning the league title.
One interesting wrinkle to Lyon’s future plans came this week via team chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, who stated that he would do anything possible to sign U.S. striker Alex Morgan.
.@JM_Aulas: "I will do everything I can to bring @alexmorgan13 to Lyon.'' pic.twitter.com/M04pVZwRYU
— Football 24/7 (@Foetbal247TBG) May 23, 2016
.@JM_Aulas: ''Signing @alexmorgan13 will be difficult and complicated because her husband plays in the MLS.'' pic.twitter.com/faYC5uMATP
— Football 24/7 (@Foetbal247TBG) May 23, 2016
Aulas previously stated that U.S. players would be coming to Lyon for next season.
“OL will have a very international team next season. Several U.S. players will join us,” Aulas said in March.
Reached by this journalist, Morgan’s agent, Dan Levy, said it was the first he had heard of Aulas’ comments. Morgan just joined NWSL expansion team Orlando Pride in October, citing the desire to live with her husband — a midfielder for MLS’ Orlando City SC — as a driving factor in the move.
The 32-year-old Schelin said that a return to Sweden lies ahead for her so she can be closer to family, but exactly where she will land remains unclear. Swedish champion Rosengård has expressed interest, but Göteborg is reportedly the front-runner to land Schelin.
Necib’s next destination — if anywhere — is unclear.
Lyon earlier this year re-signed Eugénie Le Sommer through 2019.
[MORE: Kim Little wins BBC player of year award | Henry ready for NWSL parity]
