Arsenal have delayed over making an acceptable offer for Houssem Aouar and it has allowed Paris St-Germain to swoop in.
The Gunners made an offer of £30m for the midfielder but Lyon rejected it outright.
Mikel Arteta is desperate to sign the 22-year-old and is said to be 'obsessed' with the idea of bringing in him.
The Spaniard is keen to bring in more creativity in midfield but Arsenal need to raise more funds in order to meet Lyon's asking price.
The French club are eyeing a deal closer to £46m and the Gunners have several players they would like to offload.
Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Sead Kolasinac have been told they can leave but the delay could cost Arsenal dearly.
According to L'Equipe, Lyon gave the Emirates outfit a deadline of October 2 to wrap up a deal for Aouar.
Arsenal's dallying has allowed PSG to swoop in, who are now in talks with the midfield ace.
Lyon are resigned to losing Aouar and have already moved to find a replacement.
Lucas Paqueta has been signed from AC Milan and during his presentation Lyon chief Jean-Michel Aulas insisted that his club are not dependant on selling players.
“We can see ourselves losing two players in the next two days," Aulas said in quotes reported by Get French Football News.
“We wanted to show with Paqueta that we were not dependent on sales.
"From Friday evening, there will be no departures.”
PSG have been relatively quiet over the summer, although they did sign Mauro Icardi on a permanent basis.
Alessandro Florenzi joined on loan from Roma while Sergio Rico joined as back-up goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have been active in the transfer window, signing Willian, Gabriel Magalhaes and Dani Ceballos.
Runar Alex Runarsson joined on Monday after the departure of Emiliano Martinez.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also signed a new contract, tying his future to the Emirates.
