Scotland captain Caroline Weir has joined OL Lyon, the eight-time European champions, after four successful years at Real Madrid. The 30-year-old midfielder says the lure of playing for Europe's most decorated women's club made the transfer an easy decision.
A New Challenge in France
“At this stage in my career, I want to push on,” Weir said of joining this season's beaten Champions League finalists. “I want to be competing to win things, I want to be playing with the best players. I would love to be up there competing for the Champions League.”
Weir, who signed a three-year contract, said conversations with Lyon head coach Jonatan Giráldez helped convince her this move was the right choice. The former Barcelona coach outlined how he envisaged her thriving in his tactical plans.
“It was interesting speaking to him,” Weir said. “We spoke about things he thought I was good at. We also spoke about things he thought I could improve, which was good for me to hear, and my style of play, being a No 10, being left-footed and how he sees me playing alongside others in that position.”
Leaving Real Madrid
Weir leaves Real as the club's all-time record scorer with 63 goals in 125 appearances. She will look back fondly on her four years in Spain, where she finished as a league runner-up to Barcelona each season.
“I reflect with very happy memories, on and off the pitch,” Weir said. “My only regret is we didn't win that first title. But apart from that, how I impacted the team, I'm really proud of those statistics.”
Bidding farewell to Weir, Real said they wished to “express its gratitude and affection for everything she has contributed to our club, as well as for her professionalism, commitment, and dedication.” She also received a personalised message on a signed shirt from Jude Bellingham.
World Cup Dreams
After Weir scored a hat-trick against Israel on 5 June, then backed it up with four goals against the same opponents four days later, Scotland topped their League B group in European qualifying to reach the playoffs. They will find out their playoff opponents on Thursday.
“Going to Brazil for a World Cup, it's No 1 on my list of dreams,” Weir said. “We were speaking about it a lot recently and because the guys are there, the experiences they're having and how much the country is supporting them, we would love a bit of that.”
Settling in Lyon
Before pre-season training begins in July, Weir has three big things on her to-do list for settling into a new city: finding a good nail salon, finding somewhere to get her eyelashes done and acquainting herself with the best local parks in which to walk her dog – Parc de la Tête d'Or, near the Rhône, should be ideal.
“I know it's the food capital of France; I've been hearing the food is amazing,” Weir said. “When I went there, it reminded me a little bit of Edinburgh.”
