Arsenal quoted £54m asking price for Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar - report
Arsenal have been informed that they'll have to pay around £54m to sign Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar this summer, according to a report
Arsenal will have to pay £54m if the FA Cup holders want to sign Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar this summer, according to a report in France.
French media outlet L’Equipe, as quoted by Metro, is reporting that Arsenal are the only European team to have made a formal bid for the Lyon playmaker in the 2020 summer transfer window so far.
The report states that the Gunners offered a swap deal involving controversial French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi heading to Lyon and Aouar completing a switch to north London.
According to the same story, Lyon didn’t respond to Arsenal’s proposal despite the Ligue 1 side conceding that the 22-year-old is likely to leave the Champions League semi-finalists this summer.
The report goes on to add that Arsenal are facing competition from their Premier League rivals Manchester City and Serie A champions Juventus for Aouar.
L’Equipe claim that Arsenal believed that Aouar’s value was around £40m when they made their swap deal proposal but the French club are looking to secure a transfer fee in the region of £54m.
Aouar scored nine times in 42 games in all competitions for Lyon to help the French club secure Champions League football for another season.
The France Under-21 international has been a regular in the Lyon team over the past four seasons to underline his reputation as one of Ligue 1’s rising talents.
Aouar has scored 24 times in 137 games in all competitions over the past four seasons.
The Lyon star earned plenty of plaudits for his performances in this season’s Champions League as the French side reached their first Champions League semi-final.
However, Bayern Munich denied the Ligue 1 side a place in the Champions League final after the German side eased to a 3-0 win.
Arsenal will start the 2020-21 Premier League season with a clash against Fulham on 12 September.
