Speaking recently on the Why Always Us? podcast, The Athletic’s Manchester City correspondent, Sam Lee, discussed the rumours that the club could be making a move for Olympique Lyon midfielder, Houssem Aouar.
Following a season in which the 22-year-old highly impressed for Lyon both domestically and in Europe, there have been multiple reports linking Aouar with a move away from Ligue 1 this summer, with both Manchester City and Arsenal said to be keen on bringing the midfielder to England.
While David Ornstein recently confirmed on The Ornstein and Chapman Podcast that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is indeed a fan of the £44.55 million-rated midfielder, Sam Lee recently stated on the Why Always Us? podcast that he does not think Pep Guardiola’s side will be making a move for Aouar in the near future.
He said: “I’ve said before, as far as I know, they don’t want him. They don’t want any midfielders. I checked on Friday night, and the message was the same – no midfielders. I asked about Aouar and my source was like ‘why Aouar?’ and I was like, ‘well, people talk about him loads,’ he was like ‘no, no, there’s no more midfielders’.
“But if you think about Aouar, the rumours weren’t just that City were interested in him, a lot of the rumours from the City end – not in L’Equipe or whatever in France – but the forum rumours and the stuff on Facebook groups, was that it had been done and they were waiting for the end of the Champions League, but patently, that’s not true.”
Would you like to see Houssem Aouar join Manchester City for next season?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts…
From Lee’s comments, then, it would very much appear as if the journalist is of the belief that City will not be making a move for Aouar this summer, despite reports suggesting otherwise.
While this could be disappointing news for City fans to hear, it is rather understandable as, at present, the club have got the likes of Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva who can, if needed, operate from central midfield.
So, while Aouar is undoubtedly a talented player, as can be seen from his average WhoScored match rating of 7.55 over his eight appearances in last season’s Champions League, it could be argued that it is wise of City not to spend a great deal of money on the midfielder while they currently have more than enough capable options in the position.