Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has said that Arsenal’s transfer offer for midfielder Houssem Aouar is far from their valuation.
A recent report from RMC Sport revealed that the Gunners had entered a concrete phase in negotiations for Aouar and they had made a bid of £32m (€35m) for his services.
However, it appears that the offer has been immediately turned down by Les Gones and the same has been confirmed by Aulas through his official Twitter account.
Aulas revealed that the Gunners are too far from the player’s value and backed the playmaker to lead Les Gones back to the Champions League next term.
“For Houssem, Arsenal is too far from his value: we are counting on him to play a great match in Lorient and lead OL in CL next year,” He tweeted.
The Gunners have lacked the presence of a creative midfield player. Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos managed a combined tally of just three goals and four assists last season.
Aouar would provide them an instant upgrade with his box-to-box ability. The Frenchman bagged nine goals and 10 assists across all competitions last term.
Les Gones are reportedly said to demand around £54.7m (€60m) for Aouar and the Gunners may need to recoup funds from player sales to meet the price tag.
Mikel Arteta’s side have already sanctioned the sale of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa for £20m and they are currently looking to part ways with midfielder Lucas Torreira.
Atletico Madrid want to sign the Uruguay international on loan with the option to buy. The Gunners are, however, keen to include an obligatory buy-clause in the proposed move.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
