Houssem Aouar was widely expected to move to Arsenal last summer in a transfer saga that dragged on for months, but they ended up moving for Thomas Partey instead.
The midfield still needs to be improved and the Lyon star looks set to move on this summer, with The Daily Express reporting that Arsenal do still have an interest so they may look to bring him in at the end of the season.
One of their biggest issues is a lack of transfer funds as they’ll get blown out the water if a bigger team comes in, and their chances of signing their long-term target look much less when you consider that Mundo Deportivo have reported that Real Madrid are looking to sign him for around €30m this summer.
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They also reference the interest from Arsenal but go on to state that Zinedine Zidane is known to be a huge fan of the player, so it looks more likely that he’ll go to Madrid if he’s still in charge next season.
It would also fill a position of need as Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are getting older, while it doesn’t look like Zidane trusts any of his current squad to step up and replace them.
Perhaps there could be a knock-on effect here for Arsenal if signing Aouar made Martin Odegaard more expendable, but Real Madrid appear to be in the driving seat for this one.