Arsenal ‘preparing to launch £20m bid for Houssem Aouar after being priced out of move for Lyon star last summer… with club set to offer Frenchman £100,000-per-week deal at Emirates Stadium’
- Arsenal were in negotiations last year with Lyon trying to sign Houssem Aouar
- They submitted a rejected £30m bid, but could not afford the £54m asking price
- But reports now claim the 22-year-old is available for just £20m this summer
- Lyon failed to qualify for the 2021-22 Champions League after finishing fourth
Arsenal are ready to make another move to sign Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar, according to reports.
The Gunners were in negotiations with their Ligue 1 counterparts for much of last summer over a move for the 22-year-old, and submitted a £30million bid for him which was rejected.
Aouar was valued at £54m and Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas suggested towards the end of the window that Arsenal didn’t have the required funds to secure a deal for the Frenchman.
Arsenal are ready to make another move to sign Houssem Aouar (front), according to reports
The Gunners were in talks to sign the Lyon star last summer but did not meet his £54m asking price
But now The Sun claim Aouar is available for just £20m this summer after Lyon failed to qualify for the 2021-22 Champions League after finishing fourth in the Ligue 1 table, two points off Monaco who took the final spot.
The report adds that the north London outfit are preparing a contract worth £100,000-a-week to try and sign the midfielder 12 months after their endeavours ended in failure.
Aouar had a less impressive 2020-21 season than the nine goals and 10 assists he managed in the previous campaign, but still chipped in with eight goals and four assists.
The midfielder has since played the full 90 minutes in France U21’s 2-1 quarter-final defeat against the Netherlands in the U21 Euros at the end of last month.
But The Sun claim Aouar is now available for just £20m after Lyon failed to qualify for the Champions League
But a deal for Aouar would add a creative midfielder to an Arsenal side which has seen Martin Odegaard return to Real Madrid after a six-month loan for the second half of last season.
Sportsmail however understands the club have made Leicester star James Maddison one of their main transfer targets for that particular position.
The 24-year-old only signed a new four-year deal at the King Power Stadium last summer and that combined his homegrown status means Leicester would be in an extremely strong bargaining position.
Yet Sportsmail understands that Arsenal believe there is still an opportunity to strike an agreement, with Gunners officials confident a package worth about £60m may get the deal done.
Arsenal have already seen creative midfielder Martin Odegaard return to Real Madrid
The Foxes are thought to have rejected an offer from another club worth about £70m last summer for Maddison, who missed out on a place in England’s squad for Euro 2020.
The Gunners have already missed out on an attacking midfielder this summer after Emiliano Buendia chose to join Aston Villa in a £40m deal from Norwich.
The West Midlands club also submitted a £25m bid to the Gunners for Emile Smith Rowe earlier this week – as exclusively revealed by Sportsmail – which was rejected as the north London side attempt to convince the 20-year-old to sign a new deal.
Arsenal are also in negotiations with Brighton over a move for £50m-rated defender Ben White and with Anderlecht over Belgium U21 international midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga.
Sportsmail have since revealed Leicester’s James Maddison is at the top of Arsenal’s wish list
