Lyon say Aouar will not leave the club in this window

Lyon have said that both Houssem Aouar and Memphis Depay will stay at Lyon, according to French media outlet RMC Sport. 

The French club’s president Jean-Michel Aulas had initially said no players would be allowed to leave the club beyond Friday but later extended this deadline by a further 24 hours. On Friday, a club source is believed to have revealed to RMC Sport that Aouar was in talks with Juventus.

This piece of information is strange considering Arsenal are the only club to have made a concrete offer for the Frenchman and the likes of Juventus, PSG and Real Madrid were not considering signing him this summer even if they did have an interest in the player. 

Aouar will take part in training later today and be a part of the squad that takes on Marseille in Ligue One this weekend. Lyon wanted £45.3 million for the player but it is understood Arsenal’s latest bid was worth £34.4 million. The French side rejected this offer and the Gunners did not return to the negotiating table with a suitable proposal ahead of Aulas’ deadline for outgoings.

Aulas is a notoriously difficult person to negotiate with and as things stand, it looks like Aouar will not be moving to North London this summer. There are still two days left in the transfer window and in the past, we have seen clubs perform U-turns and sell players they had categorically said would not depart earlier in the window. Let’s hope this is the case in the Aouar saga.