Lyon FC players: Karim Benzema is the best all-time player, Houssem Aouar is the currently most valuable footballer

With 71 years of existence since the inception of the club, Lyon have witnessed numerous best players. However, there are five players, including Karim Benzema, who stand out from the crowd. Accompany us and find out the top five all-time greatest players as well as the most valuable player now, Houssem Aouar.

By: Harry Siuu

10/04/2021 01:56

List of Lyon first-team squad

	Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
1	Anthony Lopes (1)	Sinaly Diomande (2)	Houssem Aouar (8) (3rd captain)	Karl Toko Ekambi (7)
2	Malcolm Barcola (16)	Emerson Palmieri (3) (on loan from Chelsea)	Lucas Paqueta (10)	Moussa Dembele (9) (vice captain)
3	Julian Pollersbeck (30)	Castello Lukeba (4)	Habib Keita (19)	Tino Kadewere (11)
4		Jason Denayer (5) (4th captain)	Jeff Reine-Adelaide (22)	Rayan Cherki (18)
5		Henrique (12)	Thiago Mendes (23)	Islam Slimani (20)
6		Leo Dubois (14) (captain)	Xherdan Shaqiri (29)
7		Malo Gusto (17)	Bruno Guimaraes (39)
8		Damien Da Silva (21)
9		Jerome Boateng (27)

In the 2021-22 season, Lyon first-team squad contains 24 players, including three goalkeepers, nine defenders, seven midfielders, and five forwards. There is only one player who is participating in Lyon as a loaned player from Chelsea. This defender will have a year-long loan on the French side in the 2021-22 season. The jersey 14 player Leo Dubois is the captain of the club, followed by forward Moussa Dembele with number 9 being the vice-captain. Midfielder Houssem Aouar is the 3rd captain and defender Jason Denayer is the 4th captain.

Captain Leo Dubois

Captain Leo Dubois

Meanwhile, there are six Lyon players who have temporarily left the club to play as loaned players in other French clubs or other European football clubs like Portuguese, Belgian, or even Brazilian. The following table will give you details about which players from Lyon are playing for other clubs in the 2021-22 season.

Out on loan

Pos.	Nation	Player
GK	CMR	Boris Essele (at Bourg-en-Bresse)
DF	TUR	Cenk Özkaçar (at Leuven)
DF	MLI	Youssouf Koné (at Troyes)
MF	BRA	Camilo (at Cuiabá)
MF	FRA	Yaya Soumaré (at Dijon FCO)
FW	FRA	Thibaut Ehling (at Farense)

Top five best Lyon players of all-time

Betimate takes a look at the all-time greatest players of Lyon since the inception of the club. Below is the list of the five best Lyon players with the most honors and their essential dedications for the club.

5. Serge Chiesa (most appearances)

Despite the retirement of Serge Chiesa in his football career, the name of this former footballer has never been forgotten, especially for Lyon. He started his senior career in the French side Lyon and stayed with this club for 15 years. Therefore, it is no surprise that Serge had the most appearances (541 matches with Lyon). He also brought to the club 134 goals within these years, making him the player with the second-most goals of all time. He was elected as the best attacking midfielder of the season by France Football in the 1975-76 season.

4. Fleury Di Nallo (all-time top goalscorer)

As the all-time top scorer of Lyon, there is no wonder why Di Nallo is included in this list. With 14 seasons with Lyon, playing 495 games and scoring 222 goals, including 182 French League goals.

During his time, Lyon won three Coupe de France (France Cups) in the 1963-64, 1966-67, and 1972-73 seasons. After leaving Lyon, he also played for other French clubs like Red Star and Montpellier, but in much shorter periods and not really successful like in Lyon.

3. Sonny Anderson

One of the best forwards of all time, Sonny Anderson, along with his teammates, won two consecutive seasons of Ligue 1. He made 161 appearances within four seasons from 1999 to 2003 and scored 94 goals.

Sonny also played for other top-notch clubs in European football, like Barca, Villareal, or Monaco. In his individual career, he was awarded numerous honors, such as Top Scorer of Swiss Super League, Ligue 1, Qatar Stars League, and UEFA Cup (Europa League); Ligue 1 Best Player, or Ligue 1 Etoile d’Or.

2. Grégory Coupet

The only goalkeeper in the list of the all-time best players of Lyon, Grégory Coupet also appeared in the squad of other top-flight clubs like Saint-Étienne, Atletico Madrid, PSG, and the France national team. He was the first-choice goal stopper in every season from 2001 to 2007, when Lyon won seven Ligue 1 titles in a row. Coupet was also the Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the year in four seasons in these seven winning seasons.

1. Karim Benzema (UNFP Player of the Year and Bravo Award in 2008)

The Real Madrid striker used to have a successful time playing for Lyon. He scored 66 goals in 148 Ligue 1 matches. He started from the youth side of Lyon and then five seasons with the senior club, receiving many individual awards in Ligue 1.

Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema

Who is currently the most valuable Lyon player?

Houssem Aouar is currently the most valuable player in the Lyon squad. He is worth €42.00m, €7m greater than the second-ranked player Lucas Paqueta. He used to be a part of the reserve and youth side of Lyon, and made his first debut for the senior club in 2016. After five seasons playing with Lyon, Houssem scored 26 goals in 145 games. He was included in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season in the 2019-20 season when Lyon reached the semi-finals of the prestigious UCL.

Houssem Aouar