Lyon are preparing for the departure of West Ham United target Moussa Dembele with Le10 Sport reporting Leicester City striker Islam Slimani and Reims’ Boulaye Dia are options.
While Sebastien Haller offered a timely reminder of his match-winning abilities on Sunday, firing a whipcrack shot into the top corner of Sheffield United’s net to seal a 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane, the £40 million record signing could soon be fighting another Frenchman for his place in David Moyes’ XI.
The Sun reports West Ham want to bring former Fulham starlet Dembele back to London.
What’s more, Lyon are willing to sell – albeit for the handsome sum of £30 million.
Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that, after 11 Ligue 1 games, last season’s 24-goal top scorer has yet to open his account.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas publicly claimed in his typically outspoken style that Dembele wouldn’t be sold but, behind the scenes, the Champions League semi-finalists appear to be planning for the departure of the France U21 international.
Le10 Sport claims Lyon are keen on Slimani in a potential January deal that every party would welcome with open arms.
The £65,000-a-week Algerian has played just 19 minutes of Premier League football all season and will become a free agent in July. Leicester would be only too happy to cash in before that happens.
Boulaye Dia, the £13 million Reims speedster, is another on Lyon’s radar.
Dia, who is also a target for Newcastle United and Brighton and Hove Albion (Chronicle), has scored eight goals in nine games and sits second behind Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race.
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