Lyon would not stand in the way of Alexandre Lacazette sealing a big transfer to Manchester United or Barcelona, according to the club’s president Jean-Michel Aulas.
The France international has had another outstanding season in front of goal for the Ligue 1 giants, netting 21 goals in 24 games in all competitions to spark fresh rumours over his future.
United are one of many clubs to be linked with an interest in Lacazette in recent years, and it seems they could be in with a real chance of landing him in the near future.
Along with Barcelona, the Red Devils were named by Aulas as one of two major clubs that Lyon would not look to prevent their star player from joining.
“If Barcelona or Manchester United one day present a suitable offer, we won’t stop Lacazette,” he admitted.
This will come as bad news to Arsenal, who have perhaps shown the strongest interest in the 25-year-old forward down the years, only to fail with a bid for him last summer.
Reports in France recently claimed it would likely take as much as 60 million pounds to persuade Lyon to sell Lacazette, though that shouldn’t be too big a fee to put United off.
Now it seems that Alexandre Lacazette is primed for his move to the Premier League. After seven years of playing for Lyon’s top team, a period that has wrought 113 goals in a little over 250 appearances, the striker has admitted he is in need of a fresh challenge.
This season, he has 18 goals in 18 outings. It is a statistic that suggests he is enjoying another stellar campaign, but his play has actually gone a little stale.
He is no longer the explosive forward who terrorised defences in the first half of 2016 to fire Lyon into second place and with it the Champions League. The 25-year-old is by no means playing poorly, but he does not have the same edge.
Eight of his league goals this season have come from the penalty spot. Along with Radamel Falcao, Bafetimbi Gomis and Alassane Plea, he has mustered 10 from open play, with Edinson Cavani out in front in this regard with 16.
Lacazette has to prove himself again. The challenges at Lyon have become too mundane: realistically they are not going to challenge the likes of Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain for Ligue 1 glory, and a player of his calibre deserves better than to be duking it out for a qualifying berth in the Champions League.