Olympique Lyonnais appear to be preparing for the possible departure of Houssem Aouar.
The highly-rated French midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal as manager Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his options in the engine room before the summer transfer window closes next month.
And in interesting developments, football.london understands an opening bid for the 22-year-old was rejected, but a second offer of £36.5million (€40million) with a further £9million in potential add-ons (€10million) is being prepared.
"There was a timid offer," Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas told Canal Plus after his club’s 1-1 draw with Lorient on Sunday.
"We felt like either they didn’t consider the fact that this is a player in the French national team.
"So it was not an offer that was even susceptible to making us consider a sale."
It remains to be seen whether or not the prepared second offer will get accepted, but Gunners supporters can expect an update on Wednesday evening as Lyon have reportedly called a press conference.
According to Get French Football News, it is to unveil Lucas Paqueta as their new signing.
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder joined AC Milan in 2019 after impressing at Flamengo with 10 goals in 32 league appearances in his final season.
But he struggled for regular game time at the San Siro, and has been touted as a direct replacement for Aouar should he seal a move to the Emirates Stadium.
This announcement could be great news for the Gunners and Arteta who is a big fan of Aouar.
"Houssem Aouar is really well liked by Arteta," Lyon sporting director Juninho said. "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."
