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Reports: Arsenal have made offer for £21.3m attacker but face battle to get deal done

By on July 16, 2021

Houssem Aouar

According to Le10 Sport, Arsenal have made an offer for Houssem Aouar but face stiff competition to sign the Lyon attacking midfielder this summer.

Mikel Arteta is in the market for a new No.10 as Martin Odegaard has returned to Real Madrid after his loan spell and it looks like he’ll be staying at the Bernabeu under new boss Carlo Ancelotti.

Emile Smith Rowe’s future at Arsenal is also in some doubt as he’s yet to sign a new contract so Arsenal need to bring in another attacking midfielder and Aouar has once again emerged as a potential target.

We failed to get a deal agreed with Lyon last summer but Arsenal are more optimistic this time around as the Ligue 1 club desperately need to cash-in to help ease their financial troubles.

It appears Arsenal have formalised their interest as Le10 Sport says we’ve already submitted an offer for Aouar and while they don’t know the precise figure, it’s believed to be less than £17m [€20m].

The French publication claims Lyon ideally want around £21.3m [€25m] but are under such pressure to cash-in on Aouar, they’ll be forced to accept any reasonable offer in excess of £17m [€20m] that’s put on the table.

Bargain

Let’s say we meet in the middle at around £19m [€22m], that would still represent an excellent deal for a player of Aouar’s ability and I think it would turn out to be a superb piece of business by Arsenal.

The 23-year-old is a tremendous little playmaker and he’d bring the much-needed creativity that Arteta’s team have lacked at times. And will certainly lack now that Odegaard has gone.

The French international is predominantly a central attacking midfielder but he can also play out wide so he’d be a like-for-like replacement for Odegaard, and he has the ability to develop into a top class player at the Emirates.

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However, Arsenal aren’t the only club interested as Le10 Sport claims Tottenham are also eyeing a move for Aouar and have the resources to beat us to his signature. Plus, they can offer him European football.

Other clubs are also being linked so Arsenal face a battle to land Aouar this summer. If we really want to get a deal done, we need to act fast before our rivals formalise their interest.