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Olympique Lyonnais is restructuring its sports organization!

Olympique Lyonnais has announced a major step in the restructuring of its sports organization with the joint arrivals of Matthieu Louis-Jean as Director of Recruitment and Martin Buchheit as Director of Performance, starting from the 2023/2024 season.

Olympique Lyonnais reaffirms its ambition to once again be among the most competitive football clubs in the world. The club announces that it has evolved its sports organization with the aim of pursuing this objective and integrating a global and modern approach that can address the new challenges of football.

Matthieu Louis-Jean has been appointed as Director of Recruitment. He will lead a completely redesigned department that will strengthen its use of data, video, and artificial intelligence. The recruitment department will also benefit from a significant increase in resources, both in terms of material and human assets.

Having played for numerous English clubs, as well as OGC Nice and Olympique de Marseille, the former football player and youth international will be responsible for the club’s overall recruitment policy. With nearly 300 professional matches under his belt (Le Havre, Nottingham Forest, Norwich), the former defender quickly transitioned into recruitment after retiring from his playing career. After experiences at the Liverpool academy and clubs such as Nottingham, Brighton, West Bromwich, and Bristol City, Matthieu Louis-Jean joined Manchester United in 2016 as the Head of French Football and established a solid reputation. OGC Nice then called upon him in 2019 to lead their recruitment department for nearly a year, and he returned to Manchester United with the same responsibilities as in 2016. In April 2021, Matthieu Louis-Jean returned to France to become the Head of Recruitment for Olympique de Marseille.

Matthieu Louis-Jean will have the support of John Textor, who will personally contribute to the recruitment policy of Olympique Lyonnais, alongside Laurent Blanc, who will also participate in building the best team while respecting the values of Olympique Lyonnais. They will be accompanied on a daily basis by Vincent Ponsot, who retains his position as General Manager of Football and whose tasks remain the same: ensuring the feasibility of operations, facilitating them, and addressing any challenges with the professionalism and rigor he is known for.

Olympique Lyonnais has also decided to strengthen its technical staff with the arrival of Martin Buchheit as Director of Performance. He will take charge of the existing team.

As a performance manager for over 20 years, Martin Buchheit has worked in various sports (football, AFL, handball, rugby) and notably led the performance department of PSG from 2014 to 2020, as well as the performance department of LOSC in the last two seasons. Hailing from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and having passed through the Aspire Academy in Qatar, Martin Buchheit holds a doctorate in sports physiology and has contributed to the writing of over 250 scientific articles and books. He has also participated in numerous research projects for Kitman Labs, a company specializing in data science (artificial intelligence) and performance analysis, and has been a consultant for the City Football Group since June 2022. Martin Buchheit’s mission will involve overseeing and coordinating physical preparation, sports science, nutrition, and development research with the technical and medical staff. He will have access to the best tools and knowledge and will contribute his renowned experience and research in professional sports to help build the best team both physically and mentally.

Finally, Eagle Football will also provide its expertise and global network to Olympique Lyonnais by offering numerous resources in the areas of data, detection, research, and performance through a centralized approach that respects the identity and specificities of each club. This sharing of knowledge and experiences will benefit all Eagle Football clubs. A General Sports Director will soon be appointed to lead Eagle Football and contribute to this positive and shared emulation that will make all the clubs even stronger.

“We are happy and proud to welcome Matthieu Louis-Jean and Martin Buchheit to Olympique Lyonnais. Their arrival marks the first steps of our sports project to regain our place in Europe and fulfill our promises to our passionate supporters. Matthieu and Martin are the perfect profiles to achieve this, and they will bring all their experience and excellence to serve our club, our coach, his staff, our players, and above all, our community,” said John Textor, President of Olympique Lyonnais.

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