Lyon have turned down Arsenal’s initial offer for Houssem Aouar.
The midfielder is in the shop window currently, with the club director Juninho having revealed that he could leave this summer.
Juninho told RMC Sport (via the Mail): ‘Houssem Aouar? When you have great players in the squad, it is quite logical that other bigger teams with greater economic power come to seek the players.
‘There is a risk of losing important players. If we lose important players, I have already spoken with the president, we will have the right to balance the workforce.’
It was later claimed by RMC Sport (Via TalkSPORT)that Arsenal had offered Matteo Guendouzi plus cash for his signature, and the latest reports claim that Lyon have now rejected an offer of £31.2 Million plus a player.
It sounds realistic that the above two reports are not a coincidence, but it will be interesting to see if we will increase our offer following our capture of Dani Ceballos on loan this week.
We are currently linked with potential deals for Thomas Partey and Aouar, while Hector Bellerin is linked with the exit door, and the latter’s departure could well give our coffers the needed boost to get one of the above over the line.
Our midfield was one of our weakest areas in the previous campaign, and it would be a shock if we was to go into the new campaign without another central midfielder added to our options.
Will we really need to sell before we can bolster one of our weakest areas of the previous campaign?
Patrick
Lyon are under no pressure to sell this player especially when they know that Barcelona are already interested in signing Depay. Despite what Juninho said, no responsible Club would take the risk of selling their top two players in the same transfer market, so we should now be looking internally for midfield creativity. I hope the young ESR is ready.
Signing Partey and Aouar into Arsenal midfield will be highly welcomed, but Lacazete and Guendouzi should remain in the team.
Always wise to hold out for more cash when you hold the right cards. Though with Guendouzi added in– there is a like for like position swap that is more beneficial than the £20M or so difference in funds.
Wenger. Loved the man, but he could be a bit too principled in negotiating. Don’t get the same vibe here. If Arteta (and Edu) really fancy Aouar– they’ll reel him in.
The bid is fair and reasonable