Arsenal have the opportunity to hurt Jose Mourinho by hijacking his bid to sign Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar. The French midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and looks to be set to join the former Chelsea boss at Roma. However, there is still time for the Gunners to hijack the deal, potentially landing a handy backup to club captain Martin Odegaard.
Aouar was once one of Arsenal’s top targets with Mikel Arteta and Edu keen to add to the club’s midfield options in the summer of 2020. The Frenchman had enjoyed a tremendous campaign in the Covid-hit season in which he helped guide Lyon to the Champions League semi-finals.
The then-22-year-old was also in line to earn his senior debut for France, tipped as the future of Didier Deschamps’ midfield but Arsenal were unable to overcome his £55million price tag. The north Londoners reportedly failed with two offers worth £32m and £33.5m with Matteo Guendouzi included rejected before moving on to other targets.
Now, Arsenal could be about to miss out on the chance to bring him in for nothing just three years later with the player completing a medical with Roma on Monday according to FootMercato. However, Aouar is yet to officially sign his contract with the Serie A giants meaning there is still time for the Gunners to launch a hijack attempt, something that would annoy Mourinho.
It should be said that Aouar’s performances have badly fallen off since Arsenal’s initial interest in 2020 and he is no longer considered to be the player he once was. Yet a fresh start could do him good and there would be less pressure at the Emirates as he would largely serve as a backup to Odegaard.
Aouar has made just 14 appearances for Lyon this season registering just one goal and an assist. Nottingham Forest were believed to be close to bringing him to the City Ground last summer however no deal was forthcoming meaning he saw out the rest of his contract in France instead.
A host of clubs had been interested in his signature this summer with the player free to negotiate with teams outside France since the start of the year. Eintracht Frankfurt, Napoli and AC Milan were all said to be among those in the running but it appears Roma have emerged victorious.
It is highly unlikely Arsenal will try and hijack Roma’s deal for the player but stranger things have happened in football and the door still remains slightly ajar.
