Lyon president sets timeline for Bertrand Traoré transfer from Chelsea

Following a successful loan spell at Ajax last season, clubs all over Europe have taken an interest in young Chelsea forward Bertrand Traoré this summer. However, having grown discontent with the loanee life, Traoré was looking for a more permanent solution, which did rule out a few teams who couldn’t quite afford his wages or his transfer fee.

Neither of those is a problem for Olympique Lyonnais, who have been negotiating with Chelsea for some time now over the transfer of the 21-year-old. It’s looked essentially done a couple times now, but as yet remains not quite done. Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas isn’t worried however and expects the deal to conclude within the next ten days.

"We're fine-tuning the talks [regarding Bertrand Traoré]. It's a very ambitious operation, one that fits with what we had said. I hope to be able to conclude the deal in the next 10 days, if possible before the end of the week."

-Jean-Michel Aulas; source: Foot Mercato

Traoré had looked set for a bright future at Stamford Bridge at one point, so hopefully the deal will include a buy-back clause. That negotiations keep dragging on are perhaps a comforting sign in that regard as the two sides try to work out the details. (Other possibilities include joint negotiations over a potential Zouma loan or perhaps somebody coming to Chelsea as well?) Either way, Traoré looks to be on his way out. Perhaps we’ll see him again at some point in the future.