Transfer News: Swiss Winger Leaves Premier League for Ligue 1, Joins Olympique Lyonnais

Xherdan Shaqiri is headed to Olympique Lyonnais after Liverpool reportedly accepted its improved second offer for the Swedish international.

This also means that the 29-year-old leaves the English Premier League, moving to Ligue 1.

Per reports, Lyon secured the services of Shaqiri with an improved pitch worth £5 million ($7 million) for three years. This formally ends his three-year spell that included winning European and world honors at Anfield.

The latest deal was a much-improved one compared to the first that was branded as “ridiculous” by certain parties. Lyon had initially offered £4 million ($5.5 million) to acquire Shaqiri.

But it turns out that Lyons was bent on getting the Swiss player to their side. Sporting director Juninho Pernambucano and manager Peter Bosz buckled down to work for them to land their top summer target after lengthy negotiations until an official deal could be agreed.

"Olympique Lyonnais is pleased to have finally reached an agreement in principle with Liverpool for the transfer of the Swiss international midfielder, Xherdan Shaqiri," per an official statement via the club’s website.

When this came out, Liverpool also confirmed that Shaqiri was bound to Groupama Stadium.

"Xherdan Shaqiri has today completed a permanent transfer to Lyon after three years with Liverpool. Everybody at Liverpool FC thanks Xherdan for his contributions over the past three seasons and wishes him the very best for the rest of his career," the team said in a statement.

The move is something that Shaqiri had reportedly made known to Liverpool, yearning for more playing time. He leaves after appearing in 63 matches for the club since arriving from Stoke in 2018.

Among the titles under his belt include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Premier League.

Despite Shaqiri’s exit, it appears Liverpool’s roster is very much set for now. Harvey Elliott appears to be the one that will take over the winger’s spot–someone who can play either as part of a midfield three or wide on the right of the attack.

The 18-year-old made his first Premier League start on Saturday when the Reds won over Burnley.

Another teenager that Liverpool is closely monitoring is Kaide Gordon who has been showing promise.

For now, it appears Liverpool has no plans to add any midfielders as the summer transfer window nears a close. If ever they do add one, a possible target would be an attacker.