Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has warned Arsenal and Barcelona they only have until Friday to finalise moves for midfielder Houssem Aouar and forward Memphis Depay.
The two players have been heavily linked with moves away from the Groupama Stadium this summer, with Lyon understood to be prepared to let both go for the right price.
Both Arsenal's talks for Aouar and Barcelona's negotiations for Depay have dragged on for what feels like an eternity, and it appears Aulas has grown tired as he told Téléfoot that any player still at the club on Saturday will not be leaving.
"We will tell the players that whatever will not be settled in terms of departures before Friday, there will be no more departures," Aulas said. "So for us the [closing] date of the transfer window will be Friday.”
For Arsenal, there have been countless rumours of different bids for Aouar, and while Lyon are prepared to do business, they want to ensure they receive a fair price and are yet to humour any of the Gunners' proposals.
Speaking to Canal+ (via the Evening Standard), Aulas confirmed the Gunners had failed with a bid, accusing them on undervaluing Aouar."There was a timid offer," he said. "We felt like they didn’t consider the fact that this is a player in the French national team. So, it was an offer that did not even make us consider making a sale.”
When asked what the asking price for Aouar was, perhaps €40m or €50m, Aulas responded: "It is certainly more than the first number that you mentioned."
As for Barcelona, their pursuit of Depay was expected to be close to completion, with a report from the Netherlands suggesting things were all but finalised. However, talk of a move has gone cold since then, with Barça focusing their efforts on signing Ajax right-back Sergiño Dest instead.According to Goal, that could be the only signing Barcelona make this summer as they don't have the money to pursue other players. They will now focus on sales in an attempt to raise funds, but whether they can bring in enough cash before Friday remains to be seen.
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Source : 90min