Lyon presidentJean-Michel Aulas has effectively confirmed that Arsenal tabled a £50m bid in an attempt to lure Alexandre Lacazette to the Emirates.
The French club had previously confirmed they'd rejected a £29m bid for their star striker from the Gunners and inan interview withTuttosport, Aulas also confirmed that clubs had approached with drastically increased bids in the summer.
"This summer, we rejected €55m (£49.7m) for Lacazette from two Premier League clubs and €37m from Napoli for (Corentin) Tolisso," Aulas said.
Despite not naming either of the Premier League clubs, Arsenal were the side most heavily linked with the French forward in the transfer window along with West Ham, although it would be surprising if the Hammers had offered such a large amount.
Arsenal opted to sign a cheaper option in Deportivo La Coruna's Lucas Perez having failed to get Lacazette, but the Spaniard has not featured much since his arrival due to the form of Alexis Sanchez in the No 9 role.
Lacazette has scored an impressive six goals in just five Ligue 1 games so far this campaign, so interest in himmay reignite in the January transfer window.
Having said that, Lyon seem doggedly reluctant to accept any bids for their star man, with Aulas revealing the club have huge ambitions for the future.
"We are at year zero of a five-year financial and competitive plan.To achieve this we have invested 500 million," he added.
Whether the 25-year-old is willing to stay with the club to try and fulfil their ambitions is unclear, but he may well have his head turned if the interest continues.
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