5 football clubs who sold their best players

#3 Lyon

Lyon won the domestic double in 2007-08

Olympique Lyonnaise were a dominant force in Ligue 1 in France for the first decade of the new millennium – they won seven consecutive league titles starting in 2002. But the icing on the cake came in 2007-08 when they won the domestic double, winning the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France. Their twin victory was even more surprising since they had sold some of their best players – Florent Malouda, Tiago and Eric Abidal just before the start of the season.

However, the exodus didn’t affect the team as much since they had Hugo Lloris, Miralem Pjanic and Karim Benzema ready to take up the mantle. The season went according to plan and they were French champions but their performance also attracted a lot of interest for their stars. Benzema was the first to go after Real Madrid made an offer he couldn’t resist.

After the Les Gones lost their most prolific goalscorer, they also lost their title to Bordeaux and then Marseilles. Lloris and Pjanic followed suit and Lyon were left bereft. The French side are yet to win the league since their departure and have just managed a Coupe de France in 2011.