John Mensah insists he left Lyon for football reasons

Published on: 08 July 2012

By Patrick Akoto

Defender John Mensah says he left Lyon  based purely on a footballing reason.

The Ghana captain terminated his contract with the French giants after playing only once last season due to a niggling back problem.

The 29-year-old who has since recovered says his decision to end his four-year stints with the club was made out of footballing reasons.

“I had a serious talk with the team manager. I spoke with the manager first before I consulted the President,” Mensah told Kumasi-based Fox FM

“The manager told me they wanted me to play regularly. But they were disappointed that I was always sidelined by injuries.

“They bought me for a huge prize and after we failed to qualify to the Champions League, they were really mad.

“They told me it wasn’t my fault but the truth of the matter was that they didn’t really get the chance to use me as expected.

“So they asked me to make a decision to either stay or cancel my contract.

“There are a number of teams that want to sign me and so I opted to leave the club.”

The injury-prone defender joined Lyon for a fee of 8 million Euros in 2008.

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