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.
Gunners links
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 |
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