Arsenal see £31m player-plus-cash transfer bid rejected for Houssem Aouar - 7M sport

Arsenal see £31m player-plus-cash transfer bid rejected for Houssem Aouar



Posted Monday, September 07, 2020 by Express.co.uk

Arsenal see £31m player-plus-cash transfer bid rejected for Houssem Aouar
Arsenal are looking to fund a deal for Houssem Aouar (Image: GETTY)

Arsenal want to sign Lyon star Houssem Aouar, who is also attracting interest from Manchester City and Juventus.

Arsenal have reportedly seen a player-plus-cash offer rejected by Lyon for Houssem Aouar. The French midfielder was at the heart of Lyon's run to the Champions League semi-finals and put his name firmly in the shop window.

Pep Guardiola is a fan of Aouar and made his thoughts clear in 2018 on the back of a 2-2 draw with Lyon.

Since then, Aouar has continued to build a list of admirers which also including Juventus.

He helped Lyon knock them out of Europe in the last 16 this summer and was arguably the best player on the pitch.

The Arsenal board have already discussed potentially moving to sign the player should the funds be available.

This afternoon RMC Sport claim the Gunners have seen an offer worth £31million plus an unnamed player rejected for Aouar.

Matteo Guendouzi is likely to be the man included in the swap deal offer.

Arsenal are keen to offload the French Under-21 international after clamping down on his petulance.

He was banished from Arsenal's first-team by Arteta after a spat with Brighton's Neal Maupay.

Guendouzi is yet to return to the fold and has been offered around to Barcelona, PSG and Atletico Madrid.

Arsenal legend Martin Keown recently praised Arteta's handling of the situation in which he demonstrated clear authority and a ruthless streak.

“Arteta is managing this very well,” Keown told talkSPORT.

“I think someone like Brian Clough would have called Guendouzi a ‘big head’ in the dressing room.

“When you’re bought into a football club rather than being brought through the ranks, it changes the dynamic a little bit.

“You could say Guendouzi has missed out on those building blocks, he’s been catapulted in from a French second division team straight into the Arsenal team at 17 years old, and now Arteta is looking at the youngsters who are coming through who are behaving in the right way.

“How humble was Saka when he signed his new contract, and Martinelli was exactly the same – they are the sort of players you want.

“I think Guendouzi has been catapulted into the friendship of players like [Alexandre] Lacazette and [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, rather than if you come through the ranks you probably stay with your own peer group.

“I know it’s probably because they speak French, but he’s been rubbing shoulders with some of these top players, and has gone above his station in a way. He’s seemed very pally from the off with senior players."



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