Loïs Openda Reflects on Juventus Experience and Move to Lyon
Loïs Openda has no regrets about Juventus. Not publicly, at least.
The Belgium international, now trying to relaunch his career on loan at Lyon, looked back on his short and stuttering spell in Turin and drew a clear line between his own profile and the way the team played – and between two of the forwards he shared a dressing room with.
Speaking to L’Équipe, as reported by Gazzetta, the 26-year-old insisted his 2025 move from RB Leipzig to Juventus was not an error, even if the numbers suggest a brutal comedown: one goal in 34 appearances across all competitions in the 2025-26 campaign.
“I spoke with Damien Comolli, who was then the club director, and he explained how he intended to use me in a difficult league,” Openda said, reflecting on the decision to head to Serie A. “In Italy, the team that really exploits depth is Inter. Roma are only just starting to understand it.”
That idea of “depth” – attacking space behind the defence – sits at the heart of his self-analysis. Openda is a runner, a striker who wants to attack the channels and stretch backlines. At Juventus, he felt the system never truly bent to that.
“The coach wanted me, but Vlahovic and David were already playing in my position,” he continued. “I had good chemistry with David, but the team wasn’t used to playing with a player who runs in behind, and Vlahovic tended to keep the ball to himself.”
It is a revealing contrast. Jonathan David, with whom Openda says he clicked, is a more associative forward, comfortable combining and drifting. Dušan Vlahovic, by Openda’s account, operated very differently, preferring to receive and hold the ball rather than release runners.
The tactical friction showed. Under Igor Tudor and then Luciano Spalletti, Openda never really broke through. Cameos, the odd start, flashes of the speed that made him a star at Lens and then Leipzig – but no sustained run, no sense of a team built to unleash his strengths.
“I tried to get my chance, and sometimes I did,” he admitted. “But towards the end of the season, I realised that to play, I had to leave.”
So he did. Lyon stepped in for 2026-27, paying €3.5 million for a loan that carries no option to buy. It is a short-term bet for the French club and a reset button for the forward, who has two goals in eight appearances so far.
For all the frustration, Openda refuses to label Juventus as a wrong turn in his career.
“It wasn’t a mistake, and it allowed me to work on aspects I hadn’t considered,” he said. “I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I’m sure that in other circumstances, it would have gone better.”
Different coach. Different structure. Different hierarchy in attack. He is convinced those variables would have changed the story.
Instead, the next chapter is being written in Lyon – and with no purchase option attached, Juventus will soon have to decide whether that chapter is a prelude to a genuine second chance in Turin, or the preface to a permanent goodbye.
