23-year old Belgian defender Jason Denayer has joined Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyon from Manchester City for a fee that could go up to €13.5 million. Denayer joined the youth team of Manchester City in 2013 and after spending a year there, he came to the senior team. However, he always went to other clubs on loan.
As a matter of fact, Denayer never played a single game for Manchester City. Denayer spent two seasons at Galatasaray. He also played for Celtic and Sunderland. He helped Celtic to win the Scotttish Premiership and the Scottish League Cup in the 2014-15 season. The Belgian was also named in that season’s PFA Scotland Team of the Year.
Denayer won the Turkish Cup with Galatasaray in the 2015-16 and also helped them win the league title last season.
Jason Denayer’s 2016-17 season with Sunderland was a rather forgettable one as the club suffered relegation. The 23-year old has also played 8 matches for the Belgium national team. He was in their squad for Euro 2016 and played the ill-fated quarter-final against Wales which Belgium lost 3-1. Denayer hasn’t played for Belgium ever since.
Lyon’s head of recruitment Florian Maurice said, “Jason is a player we have been following for three seasons now.
He has all the characteristics sought by [manager] Bruno [Genesio] – versatility because he is able to play all the positions in defence, intelligence of play, placement, speed and power in the duels.”
Lyon won their Ligue 1 opener against Amiens but lost the following game against Reims. Their next match is against Strasbourg.
