LYON have vowed to go all out in their bid to re-sign Alexandre Lacazette from Arsenal.
Club president Jean-Michel Aulas has publicly declared his desire to bring the striker back to France this summer.
And a free transfer agreement could be close, with Lyon’s sporting director Vincent Ponsot revealing he is in constant contact with Lacazette’s representatives.
The forward, 30, left Ligue 1 for Arsenal nearly five years ago in a £45million deal.
Laczette, who scored 129 goals in 275 games for Lyon, has since scored 70 goals in 192 games for the Gunners.
But he is out of contract this summer and has so far failed to strike terms on a new deal.
Current gaffer Mikel Arteta has already lost Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on a free transfer to Barcelona.
However, it remains to be seen if he pulls out all the stops to keep Lacazette at the Emirates.
@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:400;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:500;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:400;font-stretch:semi-condensed;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:700;font-stretch:normal;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:700;font-stretch:condensed;font-display:swap;}.css-qu9fel{border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}.css-b9nmbi{margin-bottom:16px;border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}
Most read in Football
.css-1gojmfd{margin-bottom:16px;}
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
Lyon registered their interest in the 16-time France international last month.
And club chief Aulas insists he will do whatever it takes to bring Lacazette back to Ligue 1.
He declared: “We will do our best to sign Lacazette in June. We will make every effort possible for his return to Lyon.”
Aulas was backed up by sporting guru Ponsot, who added: “Yes, we are in contact with Lacazette and yes, it is true that we are interested in him. We’ve always remained in contact with him.”
Should Lacazette indeed leave Arsenal this summer, Arteta could pounce for Espanyol ace Raul de Tomas after missing out on him January.
However, the Gunners would have to meet his mammoth £62m release clause to get a deal over the line.
Former Chelsea flop Alvaro Morata was also targeted on deadline day, but he opted to stay at Juventus despite the £70m arrival of Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic – who had also been on Arteta’s wishlist.
⚽ Get all the latest Arsenal news, updates and transfer gossip with our live blog
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk