Live: £50m final transfer talks, Arsenal Decisions to offer 5 players for Houssem Aouar

Houssem Aouar may have played his final game for Olympique Lyon.

Aouar has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal this summer with a £50million deal mooted.

And as speculation intensifies, Aouar has been sent off for Lyon in their clash with Montpellier this evening.

As Montpellier defender Arnaud Souquet attempted to clear the ball from his own byline, Aouar came in with a challenge and his studs made contact across his opponent’s shin.

The challenge was enough to see him sent for an early bath – or whatever post-match wash procedure is allowed in the coronavirus era.

Montpellier were one up at the time and they would go on to double their lead with Teji Svanier scoring his second of the evening. A Memphis Depay reply from the spot wasn’t enough to save Lyon from defeat.

Five players Arsenal could offer Lyon to help seal Houssem Aouar transfer

Arsenal remain interested in Lyon’s Houssem Aouar, but they may need to get creative in the transfer market this summer if they’re to get their hands on the highly-rated playmaker.

It’s been confirmed that the Gunners floated the idea of selling Matteo Guendouzi, who was frozen out of the first-team picture by Mikel Arteta towards the end of last season, as part of a potential deal with Lyon.

Mesut Ozil

A couple of enormous caveats apply, namely that the former Germany international would unlikely be interested in moving to a Ligue 1 club that can’t promise European football, not to mention Lyon’s inability to match his wage demands.

But Mesut Ozil is increasingly becoming a major headache for Arsenal, given he’s the highest earner in the squad and seemingly has little role to play under Arteta. Getting him off the wage bill ought to take priority for Arsenal, even if it means loaning him away and paying a proportion of his wages.

Alexandre Lacazette

Lyon sporting director Juninho Pernambucano has revealed that he spoke with Alexandre Lacazette about a potential return to the club that sold him to Arsenal for a reported £46million fee back in 2017.

“In January I called Alexandre Lacazette to chat a bit with him,” he said, via The Mirror .

“He was having problems at Arsenal and I said to myself: ‘Why not do a loan for 6 months with us where you will enjoy yourself, play all the games and score the goals like you know how to? And then you go back to Arsenal or somewhere else.”

Sokratis Papastathopoulos

The Greek international is reportedly free to find a new club following the arrivals of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.

His value is a fraction of Aouar’s, but he could be a handy makeweight in any such deal – Lyon could well be in the market for a new centre-half after allowing Marçal to sign for Wolves.

Sead Kolasinac

Another one that appears unlikely to have a prominent place in Mikel Arteta’s plans for the season, at 27 years old and contracted until 2022, Arsenal could feasibly still command a respectable fee for Sead Kolasinac.

Lucas Torreira

The Sun report that Arsenal are considering a £21million bid from Torino to bring Lucas Torreira back to the club.

That would mean the club sees a small loss on their investment two summers ago, reportedly in the region of £26million, but the money would certainly come in handy for Arsenal as they look to bring in funds to reinvest in new recruits this summer.

Before taking Torino up on their offer, it would be worth considering if Lyon would be interested in his services. Still just 24, Torreira could be a useful bargaining chip in negotiations to bring Aouar the other way.