Bernard Lacombe has admitted that he would love Juninho Pernambucano to come back to Lyon.
Brazilian linked with return to Stade Gerland
Bernard Lacombe has admitted that he would love Juninho Pernambucano to come back to Lyon.
The Brazilian playmaker enjoyed eight hugely successful years at Stade Gerland from 2001 before leaving for Qatar last summer.
It was reported that manager Claude Puel was happy to see Juninho go as the pair did not have a great relationship.
However, Lacombe believes Lyon should have kept Juninho and has recommended that they look to re-sign him.
"I would like him to come back. To play," Lacombe, the influential special adviser to president Jean-Michel Aulas, told
Europe 1.
"He is still capable of it and he could help us, that is for sure.
Mistake
"When you are a huge player and when there are matches every week, preparation would not be any trouble to him.
"Did we make a mistake to let him leave one year before the end of his contract? Oh yes."
Rumours of a return for Juninho had been started by Lyon defender Cris, who claimed that his Brazilian compatriot would be open to such a move.
"Juninho has a desire to come back here, as a player. We miss a player like him," Cris said in
Le Progres.
