Arsenal close to signing Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette in £44m deal

Arsenal are holding talks with Lyon over the potential signing of striker Alexandre Lacazette, according to reports.

Sky Sports reports the Gunners are confident of signing Lacazette, despite the France international making it clear in the past that he would only consider moving to a club that offered him Champions League football.

The Guardian claims Arsenal have lodged a club-record bid of £44m ($56m) for Lacazette, matching the price demanded by Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas.

Lacazette, 26, was keen on joining Atletico Madrid this summer, but the move broke down after a transfer ban on the club was upheld by the Court of Arbitration of Sport on 1 June. The ruling meant the La Liga side would not be able to register any new players until January 2018.

Arsenal remain interested in signing Monaco's teenage striker Kylian Mbappe, but their interest is likely to cool if they manage to land Lacazette.

Lacazette has two years left on his Lyon contract. He scored 28 goals in 30 league appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit last season.

Aulas previously indicated that he would prefer to sell Lacazette to a domestic rival such as Paris Saint-Germain rather than to a foreign club, adding that he wanted the best players in Ligue 1 to remain in France.

"I know [PSG chairman] Nasser [Al-Khelaifi] suggested to Noel Le Graet (president of the French Football Federation) that he is not investing that much in French players because he thought other presidents of French clubs looked badly upon it," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

"I want him to know that if he makes an offer for Alexandre at least equal to that of the other clubs bidding for him, then Alex can go to Paris without problem.

"I am a businessman and a modern club president. Transfer money must be reinvested into French football, as I always did when we were at the peak of our powers."