Houssem Aouar shows off impressive skills for Lyon in 2018
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is facing the prospect of going up against his old mentor Pep Guardiola for Lyon midfielderHoussemAouar, with Manchester City keen to steal the signing of the Frenchman. According to the Daily Mirror, City are ready to make a bid to sign Aouar, who was impressive for Lyon last season.
Arsenal suffer transfer nightmare over Houssem Aouar as Gunners remain keen on £54m ace (Image: GETTY)
Instead, the Ligue 1 side want £54million for their star man, with City now set to enter the bidding.
Arteta is a big fan of the youngster, but Guardiola is as well, and ispreparingto make his move to sign the player, who scored nine goals and provided ten assists in all competitions last year.
Lyon sporting directorJuninho admitted on Wednesday that he didn’t know if City had made an official approach toAouar’sagent, saying: “We were not directly contacted. Maybe [general director] VincentPonsotwas contacted by Manchester City, but I am not sure.”
Arsenal are yet to spend big this summer, having paid just £23m for Gabriel Magalhaes and nothing for Willian, who joined on a free after leaving Chelsea.
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City, however, have other targets in their sights, and are reportedly set to launch another bid forKalidouKoulibaly of Napoli.
Meanwhile, ESPN pundit Ian Darke believes Arsenal should be going after Atletico Madrid midfielder ThomasParteyinstead, with the Gunners reportedly desperate to sign the French powerhouse.
Speaking to ESPN FC, he referenced the Gunners’ loan signing of Dani Ceballos as evidence that they don’t necessarily need to bring in a new creative playmaker.
Darke insistedParteywould be a better acquisition due to his defensive style of play, whereasAouaris more creative, like Ceballos.