Matt Turner at a palace made of crystals. (Olf Nottingham Forest)

The EU passport is very helpful in Ligue 1 - clubs are restricted to 4 non-EU players (Cotonou Agreement players and EEA players are exempt). Lyon is at 3 with Tessmann, Abner, and Almada, so they would have still had room for Turner without the passport, but it would’ve limited their transfer flexibility.

 

I’ve been posting here for 17.5 years.

I probably said something at the time but I am too lazy to go find it but you’re invited to.

 

I love the BS search function (and procrastinating at work).

Your first post that references Turner says this:

From Gold Cup 2021 following the opening match against Haiti. Good foresight!

 

My man!

I am vindicated!

Told you @Bruce S

 

I am blown away. You noticed that Turner wasn't good with his feet. Big props.

 

Well, kruck noticed before Arteta did, apparently.

 

Not really. He was brought in as a #2 and did OK at that job. You don't get great keepers to sit as a #2 in most cases.

 

Ah, the classic Bigsoccer double down!

Never fails!

Pathetic.

 

I first saw Turner in person when the Revs came to Montreal. I was watching warm-ups and had to check twice to make sure it was him as his "slenderness" surprised me. He certainly is tall enough but wondered how he would physically are in the EPL when transferred to Arsenal. On another
note, I was really impressed with the Revs in that match and how you could see Arena had players in roles that suited them and the team.

 

Turner's new club just got relegated due to financial issues with Textor's ownership... https://www.lfp.fr/article/dncg-releve-de-decisions-du-24-juin-2025

 

Pefok and Reims maybe

 

Is the transfer even still expected to go through if they are being relegated?

 

This is a good question, I don't think either club announced the transfer despite all the news stories reporting it as a "done deal"

 

Something I've always been curious about: can anything really be a done deal before the transfer window opens? Like if either party wants to back out of the deal now, is there anything they could have signed prior to July 1 that would prevent that from happening?

 

I doubt anything could ever be legally binding prior to the window formally opening, but I certainly don't know that for sure.

My theory is that Lyon had a suspicion this was coming and knew it would be tough to sign a decent keeper so "what about this Turner guy - he's been decent in the past and is pretty desperate".

 

No, not much can be done when the transfer is international like this one. Once Forest and Lyon come to an agreement, Forest has to tell the FA that it plans on selling Turner, the FA will look at the deal then contact FIFA, FIFA will issue an ITC, the ITC and the deal will be sent to LFP who will review everything, confirm that Lyon are the legal owners of Turner's player rights, and then they will allow Lyon to register Turner in official competitions.

None of this can occur outside of the windows given to FIFA by the FAs. At most, the clubs can come to an agreement and draw up paperwork, but nothing can be finalized before the clearinghouse process. If either club wants to pull out before the ITC is issued, the other club's only form of recourse would be to take the case to the CAS.

The timing of this process was central to the court cases surrounding Emliano Sala's death while he was completing a transfer from Nantes to Cardiff back in 2018. Sala had signed a contract with Cardiff (I say "a contract" because Cardiff claims that it was the transfer agreement with Nantes and not his personal terms, which are required for a player to be registered with the PL) and flown back to France to tie up loose ends and say goodbye in Nantes. The reason Cardiff allowed him to go back to France is because the timing of his signature prevented Cardiff from applying to the FA for an International Transfer Certificate review (I think review is the right term here... basically, Cardiff had to tell the FA that they were signing a player from outside of the country and the FA needed to work with FIFA to get his ITC) to complete the deal, so he couldn't be registered for Cardiff's next match.

Sadly, his chartered plane crashed the next day while en route back to Wales.

Sala's flight took off at 5:15pm, Nantes has proven in court that they released his ITC at 5:30pm, and his plane disappeared around 7:20pm. As a result, FIFA rejected Cardiff's claim that they shouldn't have to pay Nantes because he wasn't technically a Cardiff Player when he passed away. FIFA's argument was that the transfer is "complete" from Nantes' perspective once the ITC was issued to the FA, and the fact that Sala hadn't been registered with the PL was immaterial to the money owed by Cardiff to Nantes for the transfer.

The court cases stemming from this incident didn't wrap up until like 2023. All of this stuff is so ridiculously complicated, lmao.

 

So we’re hoping that the deal didn’t go through, right? (Based on thr above analysis doesn’t seem like it could have yet, right?)

 

I don't know - there's pros and cons. It would almost assure Matt of a starting role (assuming the other guy leaves), but at a level that is questionable for preparing for a World Cup. Long term, it might be a good opportunity for him to impress the club with his shot stopping and leadership and maintain the #1 role after they get promoted.

If the alternative is coming in as a presumptive #2 in a better league and hoping to fight his way into the #1 spot, I would actually prefer the Lyon move so he's playing week in and week out. If he can find a miracle role with a team in a better league as the presumptive #1, then I would prefer that move.

Also, the transfer window thing goes both ways, it's very possible Lyon decide they don't want to spend that much on a keeper for Ligue 2. Get promoted, then splash cash next summer.

 

only thing stopping me from confidently saying "deal couldn't have been completed" is that I don't know how LFP handled the extra window FIFA added for the teams participating in the CWC. The Premier League allowed all PL clubs to do transfer business (as did MLS, but neither here nor there), but FIFA only offered the window to "clubs participating in the CWC", and the only international transfers we saw completed were for clubs participating in the CWC (ex: Trent to Real Madrid, Cherki to City, or Dilrosun from America to LAFC).

But I feel like we would've seen announcements from either club if the paperwork had been completed. For example, Lyon at least acknowledged Cherki's sale in a blog post.

 

That or it will take 5 years of litigation to figure out.

 

A "done deal" can mean that it's been signed or that everything has been agreed and we're now waiting on the signatures.

Since this financial relegation issue has been in the background since before Xmas, I'd imagine that a final contract draft has been agreed but that it contract is contingent on Lyon winning this case and retaining their Ligue 1 status.

If so, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a clause requiring that to be confirmed by a certain date, likely the end of this month, latest mid-July. Otherwise Turner could be left in limbo while the appeals process is worked through. With the appeal likely to take at least a month, my guess is that this deal is dead.

 

Agreed that Forest's lawyers likely planned for this contingency. But my understanding is that most international deals include clauses in the purchase agreement that's like "no money can change hands until the ITC has been cleared by the FA, FIFA, and the LFP", so I don't think there's anything stopping either party from calling the other side and saying "deals off" regardless of the reason. I don't think it's possible for a club to, like, put down a deposit on a transfer or anything like that, so the most recourse either side would have is to go ask the CAS to intervene.

 

If Turner is being told that regular playtime is the most important, I don't have the Ligue 2 season. Historically, Lyon have a pretty strong academy and great footballing culture and will probably be able to sell the players that have been mentioned, find a couple Ligue 2 experienced players and hopefully bounce back up. After that, they Matty could be the #1 for a team that will likely be back to one of the strongest in Ligue Un.

Lacazzette and Tolisso are academy kids, with Laca being born and raised in Lyon. Those are the types that will take pay-cuts to see their club back in Ligue Un.

First and foremost, Textor has to go from the organization.