Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has said that midfield star Houssem Aouar can leave the club he wants but has not yet expressed a wish to do so.
The 21-year-old Frenchman has impressed a number of top clubs including Manchester City over the last few years and Lyon are aware that the player could be tempted away despite signing a five-year deal in 2018.
Lyon president Aulas is still trying to sort the futures of a number of players; the club wish to keep Aouar but would not stand in his way if he requested a move.
"The player's opinion is always essential. Keeping a player against their will is not reasonable," he told the club website.
"Houssem has not expressed the desire to leave. Our will is to try to keep him even if the demands are high. There is no negotiation in progress. "
Aouar caught City manager Pep Guardiola's eye during the two Champions League fixtures with Lyon last season where the Ligue 1 club took four points off the Blues, although the 2019 purchase of Rodri has taken the midfield area down the list of priorities to strengthen in the transfer market.
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is expected to have a considerable impact on the market, but it is as yet unclear how.
For instance, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suggested that financially well-off clubs could exploit any uncertainty elsewhere to land targets but the club's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has since warned that buying players for hundreds of millions of pounds may not be realistic.
