Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has warned Arsenal that even though Alexandre Lacazette wants to leave, he won’t be sold until they sign a replacement.
It was believed that after confirming the signing of Bertrand Traore from Chelsea that it would ultimately pave the way for Lacazette to move on.
However, it hasn’t quite worked out that way, as Aulas has now revealed that he doesn’t see the £10m signing as a direct alternative to his current prolific forward, and so Lyon will be signing another player before Lacazette leaves.
“Our position is that as long as we have not signed his replacement, we will keep him,” he said, as reported by The Independent.
“He expressed the wish to leave and he was given an agreement to go to the club of his heart, but things did not happen. He wants to leave. We will discuss it in the coming weeks. If so, offers will be heard, provided they match the value of the player.
“We have not received any concrete offers for Lacazette up to now but that could happen at any moment.”
As noted by The Telegraph earlier this week, Arsenal will have to splash out £49m plus additional payments in order to prise the French international away from the Ligue 1 outfit, as they search for a long-term solution to their problems up front.
In order to compete for major trophies, Arsenal need a prolific scorer up top, and Lacazette could be that man given his record over the last three years in which he’s scored 20+ league goals each campaign.
It remains to be seen who Lyon sign next, with Real Madrid starlet Mariano Diaz touted as being their next target in the report from the Independent, but Arsenal will have to wait for that to happen first as well as make a serious offer given Aulas has suggested no bids have been received as of yet.