It could be a busy end to the summer transfer window for Arsenal.
With less than two weeks to go until deadline day, the Gunners have signed three players so far in Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Ben White for a combined total of £73m.
Three could soon become five following developments over the past 24 hours.
As reported by football.london, not only have Arsenal made a breakthrough with Real Madrid to sign Martin Odegaard permanently for a fee in the region of £29m, they are also pushing hard to get a deal for Sheffield United goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale over the line.
And there still could be time for a sixth summer transfer to be completed.
Links to Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar have resurfaced in recent days with Italian football journalist Fabrizio Romano revealing that the Gunners - as well as north London rivals Tottenham - are in contact with the Frenchman's agent.
"Aouar is a player they (Arsenal) love. They like Aouar. They are still waiting to see what happens with Lyon," Romano said when speaking on The Arsenal Lounge. "It is a completely different situation when they wanted the player last summer, but it was not easy to find an agreement with the player and Lyon at the end of the window.
"But now he could still be an opportunity for Arsenal and for Tottenham. They are both in contact with his agent.
"So, they are still looking at the situation, and if Lyon will give the green light in the coming days, he could become an option for Arsenal too."
Judging by those comments, it's safe to say Aouar would be a dream signing for Gunners manager Mikel Arteta whose need for creative reinforcements was exposed once again against Brentford last week.
In a potential boost for Arsenal, reports in France claim that Lyon Sporting Director Juninho intends to react radically following the 3-0 defeat to Angers at the weekend.
Furthermore, the report states that the Ligue 1 outfit are now willing to sell Aouar as well as Maxwel Cornet, Thiago Mendes, Rayan Cherki and Islam Slimani for 'their poor attitude'.
Aouar was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium before the 2020/21 season got underway, but the Gunners were eventually priced out of a deal as Lyon were demanding £53million.
But recently, according to The Sun, the asking price is even lower with Lyon willing to accept as little as €20million (£17million) this summer.
It remains to be seen if the Gunners will still be interested in Aouar once the Odegaard deal is confirmed, but they may never get a better chance to sign the 23-year-old.
