An insight into the expected worth of Arsenal’s next offer for Lyon star Houssem Aouar has been forthcoming online this evening.
Gunners knocked back
The major talking point surrounding Arsenal on Friday of course came in the form of an update on the club’s pursuit of Houssem Aouar.
Mikel Arteta and co. are known to be on the lookout for reinforcements in the middle of the park, with a whole host of midfielders having been tipped to make the move to the Emirates this summer.
Chief among these targets have long been Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey, and the aforementioned Aouar.
The likelihood of the latter actually arriving in north London, though, appeared to have ramped up in a major way last night.
This came following the emergence of a host of reports in the French media, suggesting that Arsenal had agreed personal terms with Aouar, before tabling an offer for his services.
🔴INFO TELEFOOT [MERCATO]@HoussemAouar d’accord pour rejoindre @Arsenal !
🧳 Le Lyonnais privilégiait le @FCBarcelona et la @juventusfc mais pas d’offres concrètes
💶 Discussions à venir entre l’@OL et les #Gunners pour affiner le montant proposé#telefootlachaine #transfert pic.twitter.com/kUsuUDG4s3
— TELEFOOT LA CHAINE DU FOOT (@telefoot_chaine) September 25, 2020
Claims of a Gunners’ proposal for the Frenchman were then confirmed by Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas earlier today.
In a blow for fans of the Premier League giants, however, Aulas also noted that Arsenal’s offer proved some way short of his asking price:
‘There will be very few departures. For Houssem, Arsenal are too far from his value.’
‘We are counting on him to play a great game in Lorient and lead Lyon into the Champions League next year.’
Transferts : Houssem Aouar (OL) d’accord avec Arsenal – @OL :il y aura très peu de départs: pour Houssem Arsenal est bcp trop éloigné de sa valeur: on compte sur lui pour faire un grand match à Lorient et mener l’OL en CL l’année prochaine 👍 https://t.co/8SUKIHLcLJ
— Jean-Michel AULAS (@JM_Aulas) September 26, 2020
Arsenal to test Lyon’s resolve
But, as outlined above, if the latest word doing the rounds online this evening is to be believed, then the transfer chiefs at the Emirates do not appear to have been discouraged by the failure of their opening bid.
This comes amid claims that the Gunners are readying a follow-up offer, to test Lyon’s stance.
The information, courtesy of the reliable James Benge, even provides an insight into the predicted worth of the proposal.
Arsenal are said to be ready to offer up a guaranteed £36.5 million (€40m), followed by a further £9 million (€10m):
I’m told that Arsenal are prepared to offer an initial €40m with €10m in add ons in a second bid for Houssem Aouar. https://t.co/FFLg7g83ru
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) September 26, 2020
