Chelsea, Manchester City, Juventus chasing Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar — report

Having survived a transfer ban, Chelsea are making power moves in the transfer market, and we may not be done after Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner. According to a report from ESPN, Chelsea are one several teams, including Manchester City and Juventus, who are interested in Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar.

This isn’t the first time Chelsea have been linked with the 21-year-old, who’s been with Lyon since an early age and made his professional debut in 2016-17. He’s become one of their most important players over the last couple seasons, especially after the departure of fellow midfielder Tanguy Ndombélé to Spurs.

Ndombélé’s move hasn’t really worked out yet, but that’s no slight on Aouar, with Manchester City apparently seeing him as a potential replacement for David Silva.

While Lyon were less than inclined to sell Aouar given how valuable he is to the team — certainly less than previously Chelsea-linked Moussa Dembélé, who now surely isn’t joining after Werner — they have been forced to change their stance due to the new economic situation in football andt he world. They are apparently willing to deal at £45m, which isn’t an outrageous price for a young, talented, and highly promising midfielder.