Lyon president Jean Michel Aulas has opened up on the asking price for Arsenal-linked Houssem Aouar.
The midfielder has been strongly linked with a move to North London, with Mikel Arteta believed to be keen on adding a top midfielder to his options this season.
Our side went to Anfield last night to take on Premier League champions Liverpool, and our midfield did very little to give us a chance of coming away with a win, allowing our rivals way too much possession.
This will certainly need to be fixed over the next week before the window closes, and we may well have been boosted by the Lyon chief’s latest comments.
The Ligue 1 side were claimed to be asking for between €55-70 Million previously, but Aulas now states that he wants somewhere between €40-50 Million for his signature.
JM Aulas about Aouar #Arsenal deal: “There was a timid offer, it was not an offer that was even susceptible to making us consider a sale”.
How much you want? €40m, €50m?
“More than the first number that you mentioned…”. [@GFFN].#AFC are still in contact with his agent. ⚪️🔴— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 28, 2020
This places his asking price below that of Thomas Partey, who is only available if a team is to trigger his release clause of €50 Million supposedly.
Our stance still appears to be that we need to offload players before we enter into the market however, but with time ticking down with regards to the transfer window, things could really pick up pace in the coming days.
We have also been linked with alternatives in Chelsea’s Jorginho or Lille’s Boubakary Soumaré, but all the noise throughout the summer has been around the above pair.
At present, a deal for both Partey and Aouar seems unlikely, but with the change in stance on the latter, he could well be our next new signing.
Did last night’s defeat move to highlight our need for creativity?
Patrick
Soumaré and Aouar would be a great bit of business. I’d love Partley but he is slightly older and more expensive. Maybe Soumaré and Aouar would be a more achievable midfield duo.
How is partey old, he’s 28 and ripe, we need experience and presence which is what he offers and why we are asking for better midfielders thiago alcantara is 29 and Liverpool signed him for what he can do not how young he is.
We were told they had both signed .done deal ,
Last night’s game showed a difference in quality between the two… arteta’ s success at Arsenal will depend on the quality of midfielders he has… He wants his team to play from the back… we have ball playing defenders the likes of luiz but we have a weak midfield.
If you were watching the game last night you noticed that Xhaka can’t operate under pressure and as a result of that the only thing he does is going backwards.
Elneny is safe player,, doesn’t have something special.. plays side ways
By this our midfield was completely outclassed…
Arsenal need signings,, arteta knows it.. Aaur and Saumare would definitely make a difference. Taking note we have got Ceballos
Aulas will always be Aulas
Get Aouar and Soumare/Partey asap. Last night’s match was a wake up call, otherwise forget the top 4. Leicester and Everton are playing better than Arsenal and will be top 4 contenders, unless we make midfield signings, we will not be able to make the top 4.
Balanced midfield:
Soumare or Roca DM
Partey box to box midfielder
Aouar or Ceballos or Ozil or ESR (with more experience) CAM
In my opinion I would rather Arsenal ensure they get Partey, then specialist DM, then if funds permit upgrade CAM.