French club Lyon have admitted receiving Arsenal’s €35million bid for Alexandre Lacazette but only to reject the London club’s offer.
A report in French newspaper Le Progres suggested that the Gunners had lodged a €48million bid for the 25-year-old, but Lyon quickly moved to deny this in a statement that they posted on Twitter.
The Ligue 1 side did confirm that they had received a lower offer of €35million, which they have turned down, as they see the forward as ‘irreplaceable’.
Communiqué du club ! #Mercato #Lacazette pic.twitter.com/mEKZvHAobx
— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) July 26, 2016
The statement reads: ” Olympique Lyonnais categorically deny having received an offer of €48million from Arsenal for the transfer of Alexandre Lacazette, as Le Progres report this morning,” the statement read.
“The club is disappointed that Le Progres didn’t go to the effort of contacting us before publishing this false information, which creates confusion on the day the club is publishing its annual figures.
“The reality is that Arsenal made a €35million bid, which Olympique Lyonnais turned down for one reason: l’OL will keep Alexandre Lacazette, who is irreplaceable and who is one of the main leaders in Bruno Genesio’s squad.”
Wenger has been shopping to improve his side’s attacking depth after missing out on Jamie Vardy earlier in the summer and Lacazette offers pace and movement that would fit into the Gunners’ style of play.
Lacazette has three years left on his contract, and that enables Lyon to put a premium price on their prize asset.