Any hopes on the part of Premier League giants Arsenal of striking a winter deal for Houssem Aouar have today been dashed by none other than the Lyon star himself.

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22-year-old midfielder Aouar was of course hotly-tipped for a move to north London during the summer.

As Mikel Arteta went in search of reinforcements to his side’s ranks in the middle of the park, Aouar was one of two midfielders identified as a key target.

The other, meanwhile, was Thomas Partey.

In the end, the Gunners opted to splash the cash on the latter, activating Partey’s Atletico Madrid release clause on transfer deadline day last month.

Arsenal’s Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey (L) vies with Manchester United’s French midfielder Paul Pogba (R) during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on November 1, 2020. (Photo by Shaun Botterill / POOL / AFP)

And whilst the Ghanaian’s addition, in the long-term, will no doubt go on to prove a superb piece of business for Arsenal, the club’s midfield puzzle remains far from complete.

Recent weeks have seen the complete lack of a creative spark at Mikel Arteta’s disposal (as Mesut Ozil remains frozen out) widely highlighted, with a midfielder capable of both setting up teammates and finding the back of the net himself expected to be next on the Gunners’ wishlist.

In turn, a fresh swoop for Aouar, potentially as early as January, has inevitably been touted.

Lyon stay

As outlined above, however, if the latest comments on the part of the Frenchman himself are anything to go by, then an Emirates switch, during the winter window at least, appears off the table.

On Monday, Aouar held an in-depth interview with RMC Sport.

During the discussion, a number of noteworthy topics were touched upon, including the Lyon standout’s recent exclusion from Les Gones’ squad to take on Reims.

The key takeaway, when it comes to Aouar’s future at least, however, came when the 22-year-old was drawn on a potential departure from the Groupama Stadium.

Aouar went on to completely shut down the possibility of such a move coming to fruition in January, before hinting that he could even remain on the books of his long-time club beyond next summer:

Houssem Aouar rules out January move. ‘I’ll be Lyon until next summer, at least,’ he tells RMC after downplaying his exclusion from the squad at the weekend

— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) November 30, 2020

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Tottenham Hotspur FC	10	12	21
2	Liverpool FC	10	5	21
3	Chelsea FC	10	12	19
4	Leicester City FC	9	6	18
5	Southampton FC	10	3	17
6	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	10	0	17
7	Everton FC	10	2	16
8	Manchester United FC	9	0	16
9	Aston Villa FC	8	8	15
10	Manchester City FC	9	4	15
11	West Ham United FC	9	5	14
12	Leeds United	10	-2	14
13	Newcastle United FC	10	-3	14
14	Arsenal FC	10	-2	13
15	Crystal Palace FC	10	-3	13
16	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	10	-2	10
17	West Bromwich Albion	10	-11	6
18	Burnley FC	9	-13	5
19	Fulham FC	9	-9	4
20	Sheffield United FC	10	-12	1

Player	Team	Goals
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic	Everton FC	10
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	9
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	8
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	8
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	7
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	7
Wilson, Callum	Newcastle United FC	7
Bamford, Patrick	Leeds United	7
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa FC	6
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	5
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace FC	5
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	5
Jota, Diogo	Liverpool FC	5
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	4
Werner, Timo	Chelsea FC	4
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City FC	4
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	4
Maupay, Neal	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	4
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United FC	4
Jimenez, Raul	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	4

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Bellerin, Hector	Arsenal FC	0	4
Berge, Sander	Sheffield United FC	0	4
Cash, Matty	Aston Villa FC	0	4
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	1	3
Evans, Jonny	Leicester City FC	0	4
Egan, John	Sheffield United FC	1	3
Allan	Everton FC	0	4
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	0	3
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC	0	3
Reid, Bobby	Fulham FC	0	3
Tielemans, Youri	Leicester City FC	0	3
Klich, Mateusz	Leeds United	0	3
Dallas, Stuart	Leeds United	0	3
Doucoure, Abdoulaye	Everton FC	0	3
Lamptey, Tariq	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	0	2
Romeu, Oriol	Southampton FC	0	3
Mendy, Nampalys	Leicester City FC	0	3
Phillips, Kalvin	Leeds United	0	3
Walker-Peters, Kyle	Southampton FC	0	3
Cooper, Liam	Leeds United	0	3

Player	Team	Assists
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur FC	9
Grealish, Jack	Aston Villa FC	5
Rashford, Marcus	Manchester United FC	4
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City FC	4
McGinn, John	Aston Villa FC	4
Digne, Lucas	Everton FC	4
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United FC	3
Rodriguez, James	Everton FC	3
Adams, Che	Southampton FC	3
Ziyech, Hakim	Chelsea FC	3
Robertson, Andrew	Liverpool FC	3
Harrison, Jack	Leeds United	3
Willian	Arsenal FC	3
Cresswell, Aaron	West Ham United FC	3
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur FC	2
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City FC	2
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace FC	2
Ings, Danny	Southampton FC	2
Ward-Prowse, James	Southampton FC	2
Werner, Timo	Chelsea FC	2