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FC Gold Pride midfielder Camille Abily has confirmed her move back to Olympique Lyonnais in an interview on the team’s website. The 24 year-old cites that “things have changed since [OL President Jean-Michel Aulas] called me personally to tell me he wanted me back”. Abily has had one of the most successful stints in WPS of any international player in the mix.

Her league-leading eight assists and eight goals propelled the Los Angeles Sol to the 2009 regular season title. The team was eventually vanquished by Sky Blue FC in the WPS Championship game but Abily could avoid the same fate this year. She has the opportunity to depart from WPS as a champion as FC Gold Pride clinched the 2010 regular season title with considerable panache and potency.

To be fair, Abily has only recently hit her stride this season. She was traded to FC Gold Pride from the ill-fated Sol on January 7 of this year. But an ankle injury early in the regular season campaign hampered her effectiveness early on. She then struggled to cement her place in FC Gold Pride’s stacked midfield, particularly after former teammate Shannon Boxx was acquired from the Saint Louis Athletica fire sale. But Abily’s newly-discovered form has helped FC Gold Pride overcome an insipid slump that saw three goalless draws. She’s tallied three assists in the past three matches which puts her second in the team with most assists behind Christine Sinclair’s nine. WPS has benefitted immensely from Abily’s talents. Her presence bolsters the league’s case for being the best women’s soccer league in the world. Her loss should be lamented but one cannot begrudge her decision.

Olympique Lyonnais might just be the best women’s club team not located in either the Bay Area or in Germany. Forget Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, or Bayern Munich – Olympique Lyon is the most successful men’s club team in the world that has pledged the most amount of support towards its equally-successful women’s team. That should be applauded. (Sorry Gooners, Arsenal’s lack of trophies in the past five years leaves Arsene Wenger’s team out of the conversation).

The women’s team has won four straight Division 1 Feminine titles and was finalists in last season’s premier UEFA Women’s Champions League, losing 6-7 in penalties to Germany’s Turbine Potsdam. The club also reached the semi-finals of the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 UEFA Women’s Cup (the erstwhile edition of the UEFA Women’s Champions League). And the team did it with a much more limited squad.

The club currently boasts the likes of Swiss midfielder Lara Dickenmann, Swedish striker Lotta Schelin, French starlets Elodie Thomis and Louisa Necib and Norwegian Isabell Herlovsen who is tied with Denmark’s Johanna Rasmussen for having scored the second-most goals in UEFA Women’s World Cup qualifying. Lyon has been amongst the most extravagant spenders in women’s football. The team’s acquisition of 21 year-old Eugenie Le Sommer from Stade Briochin is proof positive of this. Le Sommer led the league in goal-scoring last year.

The club’s resounding record of success must be partly attributed to Olympique Lyon Chairmen Jean-Michel Aulas. The 61 year-old took over the then-second division men’s club in 1987, cleared its debt, and has transformed it into one of the richest and most successful men’s sides in club football. Lyon has been the most successful French team in the past decade, having won a record seven consecutive league titles beginning in 2001 and have advanced beyond the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League in four successive years. Aulas has been a staunch supporter of the women’s team as well.

His signature transfer policy includes ushering in expensive targets, bedding them in with French veterans and then selling them off for huge a huge profit (Real Madrid’s transfer of Karim Benzema for instance). Aulas’ vision has extended to the women’s team, particularly with the recent rebranding of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. He has assembled a team stocked with talent, a team that can sensibly challenge any women’s club team in the world.

Thus, it makes sense for Abily to want to get back in on the action. Her move should not be perceived as a being a hit against WPS, however. Abily has achieved nearly everything there has to have been achieved here and she should be free to pursue different opportunites.

Morevoer, she was with Lyon from 2006-2009, racking up a very impressive 35 goals in 59 appearances. And as she says, “At that time, we had taken the team to the semifinals of the European Cup with a team much weaker…than today”.

The attraction of playing alongside National Team players also likely lured Abily. She will now have the opportunity to gain experience playing with compatriots Necib, Thomis, Le Sommer, Corine Franco and Laura Georges. France rolled through qualification with a perfect record (no losses, no draws, no goals conceded) and could strip Germany of the distinction of being the only country with both a men’s and women’s World Cup. They’ll need to carry on that momentum and it starts this weekend with the first leg of qualifying play-offs against Italy.

Another National Team player and current WPS’er may also be in the fray. Sonia Bompastor has also been linked to a return to Lyon. Both Bompastor and Abily played for Lyon since 2006 before becoming the only Frenchwomen to enter WPS. The 30 year-old has been a prized possession in WPS and is perhaps the league’s most technically proficient player.

The Washington Freedom are keeping mum about a possible move, much as FC Gold Pride had when initial reports about Abily’s transfer had surfaced. The loss of Bompastor would be a real shame for WPS. Both Bompastor and Abily share a unique relationship, as seen in a blog entry of Sonia’s back in 2007. She details the longstanding friendship the two have had since the time Bompastor met Abily at just 15. The French to English translation is pretty much indecipherable although one passage is clear enough:

“Following a combination of circumstances we found ourselves becoming roommates. From that moment on I could appreciate Cam’s human qualities and a true friendship was born. Frankly, she’s like my little sister.”

Bompastor might find the lure of Lyon a little too irresistible. This could also be her second and final appearance in a Women’s World Cup. All the arguments presented to Abily regarding her return could be applied to Bompastor as well.

But for now only one transfer has been made official. It has been a privilege watching Camille Abily flourish here in the States. She’s slotted in marvelously alongside the likes of Marta, Christine Sinclair and Shannon Boxx. If genius loves company, Abily had found a very suitable maison.

FC Gold Pride will have the chance to bid her a fine adieu on September 26th. Talk about going out on top.

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