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Nottingham Forest transfer drama as Lyon fight to CANCEL deal
Robin Bairner
- 24 Jul 2025 09:25 BST
- 6 min read
News
Lyon are attempting to cancel the transfer of USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner from Nottingham Forest – despite a deal being in place for nearly two months.
Former Arsenal shot-stopper Turner was poised to complete his move to the Ligue 1 club in an €8 million deal struck in early June, but now OL are fighting to annul the agreement with the American and send him back to the Premier League, L’Equipe reports.
OL have belatedly decided that the 31-year-old is too expensive a second-choice to carry in a squad that will be severely constrained financially this season.
Current ETV
Matt Turner
GK
Nottingham
Matt Turner
GK
Nottingham
ETV Range
€5.9M - €8M
The move was all-but completed but never made totally official before Lyon were surprisingly relegated to France’s second division, and while the club ultimately won on appeal against that call, they face major financial barriers this term.
As L’Equipe reports: “If Lyon's management were to keep owner John Textor's commitments to Nottingham owner Evangelos Marinakis for Turner, in the current context of transfer and wage bill controls by the DNCG [French football’s financial watchdog], this transfer would destroy the plans for ‘smart’ and low-cost recruitment to strengthen the squad, and sporting competitiveness for the upcoming season would be significantly impacted.”
Specialist lawyers have been commissioned by Lyon to cancel the commitment, ideally via an amicable solution.
Forest to do Lyon another favour?
Lyon’s relationship with Nottingham Forest has caused controversy in recent months.
Forest were the big winners as OL were ultimately admitted to the Europa League this season. Due to Textor’s previous joint-ownership of Crystal Palace, the Eagles have not been allowed to play in that competition and have been controversially relegated to the Conference League.
Evangelos Marinakis’ side, meanwhile, helped save Lyon financially by signing Danilo from another Textor-owned club, Botafogo. This allowed the American businessman to transfer that money to the French side, offering them fresh cashflow to help their case against administrative relegation.
This comes after Textor sold his stake in Palace on 23 June.
Now it appears Lyon are looking for more help from Forest by cancelling the transfer of Turner, who actually spent the second half of last season on loan at Palace, playing four times.
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