Liverpool reportedly want to bring Houssem Aouar to the Premier League with the midfielder shining in Ligue 1 for Lyon.
Any hopes Liverpool might have had of signing Houssem Aouar might be over.
The Reds will be fully aware that Jean Michel Aulas is not an easy man to work with, having negotiated with the outspoken Lyon president in the ill-fated summer deal for Nabil Fekir.
According to RMC Sport, however, the Fekir saga did not put Liverpool off targeting another of Lyon’s star players. It was claimed that Jurgen Klopp’s side have been keeping a close eye on 20-year-old Aouar, who has caught the eye with his technical quality since breaking into the Lyon first-team at the start of 2017/18.
But, in quotes reported by the Mirror (live blog, 11.00), Aulas has made it clear that Liverpool would be wasting their time with a January bid.
“A departure for Houssem Aouar? The door is totally closed for our most successful hope, who has come from the academy. I think he is the future of Lyon,” Aulas said.
So Liverpool will be forced to look elsewhere in an attempt to add some cutting edge and creativity to a rather workmanlike midfield.
The Mirror has claimed that Liverpool are interested in the underrated Brighton and Hove Albion play-maker Pascal Gross, who is understood to have a release clause in his contract worth a bargain £18 million.
Unlike Aouar, Gross is proven in the Premier League having scored seven goals and assisted eight more last season.
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