‘Clear of prime Xavi’: Some Arsenal fans want club to speed up reported pursuit of ‘incredible’ 22-year-old

Add as preferred source on Google

A number of Arsenal fans have been urging the Gunners to speed up their reported pursuit of Lyon prodigy Houssem Aouar.

The 22-year-old has been linked with Arsenal for a number of months, the Daily Mail claiming in February that he had “admirers in the red half of north London”.

In mid-June, meanwhile, 90Min wrote an article about the “five clubs he’s most likely to move to”, with the Gunners on the list for the player.

Earlier this month, the Daily Mail claimed that Arsenal, along with Manchester City and Juventus, are reportedly keen on Aouar.

The midfielder has come through the ranks at the Groupama Stadium and has developed into one of the top young midfielders in Europe over the past few years.

Despite his young age, Aouar has clocked up an impressive 137 senior appearances for Lyon, with 24 goals and 27 assists under his belt already.

He has also played a key role in their run to the Champions League semi-finals this season, which came to an end on Wednesday night at the hands of Bayern Munich.

Lyon director Juninho confirmed after the game that “there will be departures”, subsequently name-dropping Aouar and Moussa Dembele as players who have impressed in Europe.

“There will be departures, but I am not worried,” he told RMC Sport, as quoted by Yahoo Sports.

“When you have players who play very well in a competition like this, like Moussa and Houssem… We will have to show the same spirit to be back in the Champions League next season.”

Some Arsenal fans now hope for movement with regards to the €50million-rated (£44million) ace:

The France Under-21 international was highly praised by Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola in the past, telling Sky Sports in late 2018: “He is incredible.

“He is always calm with the ball at his feet with an excellent technical quality.”