[Tweet] Lyon Confirm They’ve Rejected A £29m Bid From Arsenal For Lacazette

The summer transfer window is now open for business so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal have seen an opening bid rejected for Alexandre Lacazette…

Lyon have confirmed on their official Twitter page that they’ve rejected an opening offer from Arsenal worth around £29.3m (€35m) for star striker Alexandre Lacazette.

Arsene Wenger has been desperately trying to bring in a top class striker this summer after missing out on Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy and Lacazette is one of a number of players who’ve been linked with a move in recent weeks.

The French international has been one of the most prolific strikers in French football over the past couple of seasons and helped Lyon to a second-placed finish last year after netting 23 goals in his 44 appearances.

There has been plenty of speculation in the media surrounding Arsenal’s pursuit of the 25-year-old this month with reports in French outlet Le Progres today suggesting that Wenger had formalised his interest by tabling a £40m (€48m) offer.

However, Lyon have moved quickly to clarify the situation after releasing a statement on Twitter claiming that they’ve rejected our opening £29.3m (€35m) offer and insist that Lacazette won’t be sold this summer.

Communiqué du club ! #Mercato #Lacazette pic.twitter.com/mEKZvHAobx

— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) July 26, 2016

The statement translates to say:

“Olympique Lyonnais categorically deny having received an offer of €48million from Arsenal for the transfer of Alexandre Lacazette, as Le Progres report this morning,”

“The club is disappointed that Le Progres didn’t go to the effort of contacting us before publishing this false information, which creates confusion on the day the club is publishing its annual figures.

“The reality is that Arsenal made a €35million bid, which Olympique Lyonnais turned down for one reason: l’OL will keep Alexandre Lacazette, who is irreplaceable and who is one of the main leaders in Bruno Genesio’s squad.”

So now we have it confirmed that Arsenal have a concrete interest in Lacazette but it looks like we’ll face a tough time luring him away from Lyon this summer as the club have made it clear in their statement that they want to keep hold of the striker.

Some fans are speculating that Lyon are just playing hard-ball and this statement is designed to force Arsenal to up our £29.3m offer but only time will tell whether there is any foundation to that thinking.

READ MORE–> Arsenal transfer news

For now, it looks like the ball is firmly in Wenger’s court and the boss must now decide whether to test Lyon’s resolve with an improved bid or move on to other targets.