Malick Fofana (20), Pavel Šulc (25) and Afonso Moreira (20) are all set to return to the Olympique Lyonnais squad for Thursday’s home match against Celta Vigo in the second leg of the Europa League round of 16, Paulo Fonseca announced at a press conference.
Although they are not yet ready to play a full 90 minutes, the prospect of seeing them come on as substitutes is nonetheless excellent news for the Rhône-based team.
Having suffered an ankle sprain in the match against RC Strasbourg Alsace in late October, Fofana is set to return to action after being sidelined for over 120 days. A welcome boost for Fonseca, who will also welcome back the team’s top scorer and top assist provider in the form of Šulc and Moreira, both of whom have been out since February. Enough to add some quality attacking options to a team that has been sorely lacking in that department for several weeks now.
And as good news never comes alone, Fonseca also revealed that Ernest Nuamah (22), who suffered a cruciate ligament tear in his knee last April, has now returned to full training. Although he did not give a specific date for his return to the squad, there is a possibility he could feature in the upcoming clash with AS Monaco on Sunday.
However, this is not yet expected to be the case for Ruben Kluivert (24) and Ainsley Maitland-Niles (28), who are “continuing their rehabilitation” and are not expected to return before the end of the international break.
