Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas is confident that the French club will be able to retain the services of highly-rated midfielder Houssem Aouar before the transfer window closes on October 5.
The France international is being heavily linked with a move to Arsenal as Mikel Arteta, the Gunners boss, aims to strengthen his midfield options.
Arteta, who watched his side secure a hard-fought 2-1 win over West Ham United on Saturday evening, is keen to add both a defensive-midfielder and attacking-midfielder to his ranks, with Aouar fitting the role as an attack-minded midfielder.
The Frenchman is considered as one of the most highly-rated midfielders in European football and Arsenal are very keen on securing his services, despite his £45million valuation.
But despite some reports claiming that Aouar has agreed a five-year deal with the Gunners, Aulas has quickly poured cold water on those claims, insisting he doesn't see any kind of deal coming to fruition because Arsenal are not showing a willingness to match Lyon's valuation.
Asked if he thought Aouar would seal a move to Arsenal before the window closes, Aulas said: "No I don't think so, no offer yet.
"It seems that Arsenal don't want to, or can't invest the price for Houssem, who is our best player."
This news comes just a short time after Juninho - Lyon's sporting director - admitted that the Gunners' technical director, Edu, had spoken to him about Aouar potentially sealing a move to Arsenal.
"Houssem Aouar is really well liked by Arteta," said Juninho. "There were some discussions for [Matteo] Guendouzi, who is also a good player. He was brought up during the discussion.
"But we don't need his profile, we were very clear. If it is like that, we are not interested at all, we cut the conversation, that is where things ended."
