For a couple of years, Frenchman Houssem Aouar has been constantly linked to a move to Arsenal. Now, it seems, the Gunners finally decided it was time for him to come – and reportedly submitted a €25 million offer for him. According to Calciomercato, the price is within Lyon’s asking range, but the French side is yet to accept the bid.
Houssem Aouar
Aouar has started playing football professionally at the age of 8, first with AC Villeurbanne, then with the Olympique Lyonnais Reserves and Academy. Upon graduating in 2016, he signed a three-year contract with Lyon – he played a few games for the second team, becoming a staple for the first team later. Since making his debut, he played over 120 league games with Lyon, scoring over 20 goals in the process, making it on the interest list of all live soccer fans with an affinity for French football.
Last August, Aouar had a shot at making his debut with the French national team. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with COVID that sidelined him for a while – he missed training for more than two weeks, so France decided to replace him with another player. Ultimately, he made his debut for France last October, in a friendly against Ukraine.
A versatile player, Aouar can play anywhere in the midfield. He is calm when having the ball at his feet, and he is appreciated for his excellent technical ability.
Two years of rumours
Houssem Aouar was repeatedly linked to Arsenal for the better part of the last two years. The latest news about him moving to Emirates emerged last year – but the price tag attached to his name was too high at that point: Lyon was reportedly asking for more than 40 million euros from the interested clubs. The French side was reportedly hoping to spark the interest of big European clubs for the player – but this didn’t happen at the time for reasons we all know, and Arsenal also decided to give up on its hopes to sign him, opting for Thomas Partey instead.
Now, in turn, Lyon is reportedly in a tight financial situation – this is one of the reasons why the French side wants to offload some players.
The only viable option?
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wanted to sign Ruben Neves as a replacement for Granit Xhaka who is leaving Londinium for Rome, but the club’s management considered his price tag way too high in the current situation. The other player the Gunners hope to sign is Manuel Locatelli but the player would prefer a move to Juventus. The Italian side is yet to make an offer but the parties’ interest in each other makes the player’s move to Emirates unlikely at this time.
This leaves Aouar as the only viable option for the Gunners at this time. And if the reports are true, Lyon will not hesitate to accept Arsenal’s offer.
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