There has been an unexpected reconciliation between the former Olympique Lyonnais owner Jean-Michel Aulas and its current owner John Textor after their relationship deteriorated last season.
Tensions soon began to grow between the two men after Textor bought Lyon from Aulas. The former owner was kept on as club president for a transitional period of three years.
However, that transition was cut short by a few months after reported disagreements between the two occurred over the future direction of the club causing Aulas to step down from his role. Textor was apparently in favour of a massive restructuring of the footballing department whereas Aulas was unmoved by these opinions.
The relationship soured further in the summer when Aulas froze Lyon’s funds, threatened to sue Textor, and also criticised the club for the departures of Bradley Barcola and Castello Lukeba.
It appeared as if there would be no rapprochement between the figurehead of Lyon’s past and that of its future, but unexpectedly the relationship appeared to have thawed when the two were seen together in Lyon’s victory over Toulouse (3-0) on the 10th of December.
Aulas, now the vice president of the French Football Federation, spoke in a Canal+ interview about how the two found reconciliation, ‘We decided to discuss, from that moment on, John told me: “You have to come back to the stadium.”’
Jean-Michel Aulas sur sa relation avec John Textor 🗣️
— CANAL+ Foot (@CanalplusFoot) December 22, 2023
🗨️ "On a discuté. John m'a dit de venir au stade (lors de Lyon / Toulouse le 11 décembre). (…) Je crois que c'est un acte de réconciliation" pic.twitter.com/iXAWAQx98Q
The former president went with Textor to see the players before the match against Toulouse, ‘They must have been surprised. I was too. I was a little embarrassed. Very moved. My legs were like jelly. I wasn’t prepared.’
Aulas finished by explaining that this ‘This was not an act of communication but a positive act of reconciliation which allowed everyone to find their footing.’
