According to L’Équipe, Houssem Aouar is set to leave Lyon this summer. The 21-year-old French midfielder will be sold by Lyon in the upcoming transfer window. His transfer fee is expected to be around €50m.
Manchester City has been linked with Aouar since the start of the season in order to add depth to their midfield as David Silva is set to leave the Etihad this summer. L’Équipe reports that Lyon will keep Guimares, while at least two among Aouar, Dembele & Depay could be sold.
Lyon will miss the Champions League football next season for the first time in two decades. They want to sell players to reinvest in areas where reinforcement is needed. Juventus, Liverpool and Manchester City are the favourites to sign him. However, Juventus are also in the market for Arthur Melo. This gives Manchester City. a much-needed transfer boost ahead of the summer window.
Aouar can play as a central midfielder as well as a wide left midfielder. He likes to dribble and has the ability to hold the ball. However, he not that good defensively because of his attacking role.
Aouar’s stats this season for Lyon:
Games – 39
Goals – 9
Assists – 7
Dribbles – 3.4 per game
Pass success – 85.9 %
Key passes – 1.3 per game
The French midfielder has shown up in big games against PSG, Juventus and Marseille because of which has gained a lot of attention from top clubs around Europe. But his performance against other sides in Ligue 1 has been poor.
Lyon wants a deal to be agreed quickly so that they can reinvest from the money. Last year when asked if he would want to play for City, Aouar said: “You wouldn’t like to go to City?”
“It is a great European club and all players have this urge to play for the biggest European clubs, which in addition is led by Guardiola, who for me is a reference as a coach.
“Guardiola has seen everything before. It is extremely good to play his teams and that’s what I like, his way of seeing football.”
