Houssem Aouar, unintentionally, has found himself immersed in a war between two old friends: Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta. There has been talk of the technician's love for a long time citizen for the virtuous Lyon midfielder, but is now his former number 2 on the bench skyblue the one who has set his sights on the 22-year-old, as Juninho Pernambucano, sports director of the Lyon team, has recognized. “I have a good relationship with Edu (sports director gunner), we have spoken on the phone. Aouar is very much liked by Mikel Arteta “. The price to remove the protagonist from Ligue 1, according to the Mirror British, would be around 60 million euros.
The first approach from London was accompanied by another name, Matteo Guendouzi. The French pivot, at 21, does not count for Arteta after his attitude problems last season and an accommodation is being sought for him. However, Lyon does not seem to be his destination: “Guendouzi was treated during the call, he is a great player, but he is not the profile we are looking for. We are not interested in it, so we closed the conversation“In addition, the former Brazilian international made it clear that there has been no formal offer, at the moment:” I think it is something that is being developed directly between agents “.
Although, although he affirms that the aforementioned interest of the City has not reached him directly, he does not rule out that this has occurred. “We have not been contacted. Perhaps Vincent Ponsot (Lyon general manager) has been contacted by Manchester City, I'm not sure.”. Likewise, he has been convinced that, although the price demanded by his still player is high, 60 million, teams like City and Arsenal could assume such a disbursement: “Teams like these, who fight to win the Champions League every year, have the ability to do so and that makes any player dream “.
While he closed his speech acknowledging that he is aware of Guardiola's taste for Houssem: “Of course Guardiola likes the player”. Although it is not so clear that it is the profile that City needs: “I do not know, we have not received a formal offer yet.” Aouar's future promises to be talked about in the more than three weeks remaining for the Premier League transfer market to close its doors.