Arteta loves Aouar but no contact has been made since Guendouzi + cash bid was rejected
Mikel Arteta loves Houssem Aouar’s profile but Arsenal have not made any further contact since the club’s initial offer of Guendouzi in addition to cash was rejected by Lyon, according to Mohamed Bouhafsi of French radio station RMC.
Juninho, Lyon’s sporting director, said that he has held discussions with Edu Gaspar about Aouar, a player Arteta likes, but that Guendouzi’s profile is not one Lyon are interested in and there have been no talks since then, in an interview with RMC Sport. He also said that PSG and Manchester City are interested in Aouar and that Pep Guardiola likes his profile. Neither clubs have submitted an offer for the player so far.
The Gunners want to rebuild their midfield and are interested in signing the Lyon academy graduate. They are keen on selling Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira this summer. The Uruguayan midfielder has attracted strong interest from a host of Italian clubs but it looks like Torino are leading the race to sign him this summer.
Arsenal are holding firm on their £27 million valuation of the player and it remains to be seen if the Italian side coached by Torreira’s former Sampdoria boss Marco Giampaolo will make a suitable offer. Torino are preparing a new bid for the 24 year old, according to Matteo Pedrosi of Italian media outlet Calciomercato.
Lyon reportedly want north of £53.5 million for Aouar. They are keen on selling their star midfielder this summer but due to the financial implications brought on by the pandemic, clubs are struggling to come up with the funds to finance this deal.
The North London side will need to move players on in order to pursue moves for their primary targets like Houssem Aouar and Thomas Partey.
