James McNicholas has been discussing Arsenal’s pursuit of the Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar during a recent edition of the Headline podcast.
The North London club have been credited with a strong interest in the player and it was revealed last week by Jean-Michel Aulas, the Lyon president, that Arsenal had submitted an offer that fell short of their valuation of the £44.55m-rated 22-year-old.
Aulas has also been quoted as saying that after Friday evening, when Rudi Garcia selects his squad to take on Marseille, there will be no departures (via football.london) and McNicholas echoed his stance, here is what he had to say on the subject:
“Houssem Aouar of Lyon is clearly, I think, the preferred target at the moment, it’s the one they’ve made the most aggressive moves to sign.
“The Lyon president insists that if he is to leave the club, a deal must be struck by Friday.
“So, we are getting close to crunch time for Arsenal and things need to start moving if they’re to get the players they need.”
Do you think Arsenal will land Aouar during this window?
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TIF Thoughts…
Aouar isn’t the only midfielder the Gunners have been heavily linked with this summer, they’ve also been credited with a strong interest in the Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.
However, time is clearly running out with the transfer window due to close on 5th October.
According to a report from McNicholas earlier in the week, Lucas Torreira is close to leaving the Emirates Stadium, in our view, increasing the need for Mikel Arteta to add to his midfield options.