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Arsenal’s hopes of signing £46m star given major triple boost

By on October 3, 2020

Houssem Aouar

According to a number of reports, Arsenal have been handed a triple boost in their attempts to sign £46m-rated Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar before the window closes on Monday night.

Mikel Arteta is desperately trying to revamp his midfield options and Aouar has been identified as one of Arsenal’s prime transfer targets along with Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey.

We’ve been struggling to get a deal agreed with Lyon and ESPN reported recently that Arsenal chiefs were lining-up an improved offer after seeing our opening £32m bid rejected by the French outfit.

TeamTalk suggests that Lyon have lowered their valuation from £55m to around £46m but cash-strapped Arsenal are still struggling to raise the required funds having failed to attract serious offers for the likes of Matteo Guendouzi or Lucas Torreira.

It looked like we had left the door open for PSG to swoop in as L’Equipe reported late last week that the Ligue 1 champions had expressed their interest in signing Aouar from under Arsenal’s nose.

However, in a major boost, PSG sporting director Leonardo has ruled out making any late move for the 22-year-old despite describing Aouar as a ‘dream’ signing.  Leonardo is quoted by the Metro as saying on Friday night:

‘Aouar it’s a dream but it may not be the right time,’

In a double boost for Arsenal, Zinedine Zidane has also dismissed reports suggesting that Real Madrid had made a late attempt to sign Aouar. Zidane is quoted as saying by the Metro:

‘I don’t know what information you have. He [Aouar] is a great player, without a doubt, I know, and maybe one day he will be able to play for Madrid, but now there is this squad and we are going to start with this.’

So it looks like PSG and Madrid have removed themselves from the running leaving Arsenal in pole position to sign Aouar and it appears our chances of getting a deal agreed have been handed another big boost.

Mikel Arteta Arsenal

TeamTalk are citing the paper version of today’s L’Equipe as reporting that Lyon have softened their stance and are now willing to let Aouar join Arsenal on an initial loan this summer.

The French outlet says Lyon will only sanction the loan if an obligation to buy clause is inserted into the deal which will force Arsenal to make the move permanent for a set price next year.

This type of arrangement should suit Arsenal perfectly as it will give us time to raise the funds needed to buy Aouar outright but also allow us to take the midfielder now to ensure the squad is strengthen for this season.

Let’s hope the L’Equipe report is accurate as Arsenal should be jumping at the chance to secure that deal. Lyon have already signed a possible replacement for Aouar after snapping up Lucas Paqueta from AC Milan so it does look like they’re preparing for his departure.

We’ll have to see how things progress over the weekend but let’s pray Arsenal manage to get this proposed deal over the line before the window shuts on Monday night.

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