Lyon's squad if they never sold their best players

GK: Hugo Lloris

As we all know, Hugo Lloris has become (debatably) a top 3 Premier League goalkeeper since his departure to Tottenham, and has been a huge part in Tottenham's transformation to a regular top 4 and title challenging team. He is also France's number 1 and looks set to remain first choice for both his club and country for years to come. Reliable, calm and top quality goalkeeper.

RB: Kenny Tete

Having joined Lyon this summer from Ajax, Tete has made an instant impact this season, demonstrating why Barcelona and a few other top clubs were in for him. He made the right choice by choosing Lyon where he's guaranteed a starting place in a league that's growing stronger by the season. Only time will tell how good he'll actually become, but the future's looking bright for the young fullback.

CB: Samuel Umtiti

Umtiti is Lyon's youth product, making his first team debut back in 2012. against  Lyon-Duchère in Coup de France. Physically imposing and incredibly composed for his age, he has gone on to make 131 appearances for Lyon, before making his dream move to Barcelona.
He has cemented his place in the first XI of the Spanish team and has been praised by his teammates ever since.

CB: Mouctar Diakhaby

Another product of Lyon's youth academy, Diakhaby is one of the brightest talent in the French League at the moment. He has already gotten the attention of Pep Guardiola, manager of Manchester City, who wanted to buy him in the summer. However, it's probably best for the young lad to stay a few more seasons in a club where he'll get constant first team football which will aid his development immensely. 

LB: Ferland Mendy

Lyon obviously know how to develop defenders, because Mendy is another young fullback who has been given a chance at Lyon. After making 35 appearances in Ligue 2 for Le Havre, Lyon identified him as a top talent, and bought him in the summer of 2017.

Here's a highlight clip from his game vs Celtic in the Champions League

CM:  Corentin Tolisso

It was no secret that Tolisso has caught the eye of several top clubs across Europe from his performances in Lyon. However, even though it was widely expected Juventus was his destination, he earned himself a surprise move to Bayern Munchen, becoming their record signing for €41.5m. 

Young midfielder was instrumental to Lyon's amazing style of play, creating and scoring himself, while leading the tempo and making things happen all over the pitch. His great performances earned him a call-up to French national team, and finally, transfer to German giants-Bayern Munchen.

Tolisso is one of the brightest midfield talents in the world at the moment, and with the quality of Bayern's coaching team and the teammates he's surrounded with, there are no limits to how great he can become.

CM: Miralem Pjanić

Pjanić has been a vital part of Juventus' team since his transfer from Roma. Midfield maestro burst onto the European scene with an equalizer against Real Madrid on the legendary Santiago Bernabeu; a goal that put Lyon through to the quarter-finals.

Pjanić left Lyon for Roma, and the Italian league suited him perfectly. Alongside his playmaking abilities, Pjanic is widely renowned as one of the best set-piece takers in the world.  His performances for Roma were good enough to earn him a transfer to Italian champions: Juventus and he has since become irreplaceable in their midfield.

RW: Nabil Fekir

Current captain and arguably the best player of this Lyon team, Nabil Fekir has been with Lyon since 2011.

He was first included in the squad in July 2013, and made his debut a month later against a Champions League playoff against Real Sociedad.
Step by step, Fekir was introduced to the first team, and became a regular in the season of 2014/2015. That was his breakthrough season in which he scored 13 goals and made 9 assists which earned him the title of Ligue 1 Young Player of The Year and a spot in team of the year.

Fekir continued his impressive form cementing his status of the most important player in the team, and earning himself captaincy after Gonalons' transfer to Roma in the summer of 2017.
It's unlikely he'll stay at Lyon much longer, only a matter of times before the big boys come knocking.

RW: Anthony Martial

Martial is another youth product of Lyon, but unlike the others, he didn't stay for long. Having made only 3 appearances, he left for Monaco in the summer of 2013 where he showed incredible potential which led to winning the Golden boy award.

His transfer to Manchester United caused a lot of interest because of the high fee which included a lot of bonuses for his future achievements, including winning the Golden Ball.
One of the biggest talent in football, he's making a huge impact whenever he comes off the bench for United, winning them multiple games over the course of the season.
There's much more to say about him, but honestly, we all read so much about him already.

CF: Karim Benzema

Benzema burst on the scene while at Lyon, demonstrating incredible goalscoring threat and a huge amount of pace and talent. In 2007/2008, Benzema scored an incredible 31 goal in 51 games, which led to him becoming the top scorer and being named Ligue 1 POTY. Next season, Lyon had a bit of form issue, but Benzema scored 23 goals nevertheless.

Obviously, the biggest club in world football became interested and  soon Real Madrid put in a bid of then huge €35m for the young striker. 

He has been playing for Real ever since, and has been a constant in their amazing attack force which currently consists of him, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale(when fit).
Having suffered a dip in form recently, he's been under a lot of criticism, but there's no denying he's one of the greats of the European football in the last decade.

CF: Alexandre Lacazette

Alexandre Lacazette was one of the most sought after players for the past 2 summers.

 Upon his arrival at the club, Lacazette began training at the Centre Tola Vologe, the club's training center. While undergoing training, he was likened to former Lyon striker Sonny Anderson by many coaches, including the player himself. 

He led the French u19 team to  the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship,   , where he scored the match-winning goal in the final against Spain. 

His performances haven't gone unnoticed and he drew attention from Roma at such a young age.

He was slowly introduced to the first team and over the course of the years became their main striking option.

 Known for dribbling, pace, finishing ability, and ability with both feet, as well as his persistence to press and tackle when out of possession, he's the epitome of the modern striker. He made 203 appearances for Lyon, scoring exactly 100 goals before his summer transfer to the Premier League giants Arsenal. It's fair to say he made a lasting impression on Lyon and its fans.

Thanks for reading lads, hope you like it!