Arsenal transfer news: Lyon demand Olivier Giroud in part-exchange for Alexandre Lacazette

Lyon are willing to sell Alexandre Lacazette to Arsenal as long as Olivier Giroud is included as part of a cash-plus-player deal, according to reports.

The Sun says Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas is an admirer of Giroud and wants the France international to replace Lacazette if the latter ends up joining the Gunners.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger also remains interested in signing Monaco duo Kylian Mbappe and Thomas Lemar to overhaul a squad that finished fifth in the Premier League last season.

Atletico Madrid were leading the queue to sign Lacazette, 26, before a transfer ban on the Spanish club was upheld by the Court of Arbitration of Sport on 1 June. The ruling bars the La Liga outfit from registering any new players until January 2018.

Arsenal are reported to have opened talks with Lyon for the French striker, who scored 28 goals in 30 league appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit last season.

However, Aulas has said 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 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.

"When transfer money is shared abroad, it strengthens our competitors instead."

Lacazette has two years left on his Lyon contract and is valued at around £60m ($76m) by the French club.

He was an unused substitute in France's 3-2 friendly win over England at the Stade de France on 13 June.