Chelsea forward Bertrand Traore could complete £16m Lyon transfer 'before the end of the week'

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has confirmed that the club are hoping to complete the signing of Chelsea forward Bertrand Traore, with the transfer potentially set to conclude before the end of the week.

Traore enjoyed an impressive 2016-17 campaign on loan at Ajax, scoring 13 goals in total as the Dutch giants reached the final of the Europa League and lost out on the Eredivisie title on the last day of the season for a second year in succession.

Such a promising stint immediately attracted interest from a multitude of potential suitors across Europe, with Everton, West Ham United, Schalke, Lille and Borussia Monchengladbach all said to be tracking the Burkina Faso international.

Lyon quickly emerged as the front-runners for Traore, however, after Aulas confirmed that they "absolutely" wanted to do the deal and that contact was "very advanced".

Updating reporters on those negotiations during a visit to President Emmanuel Macron's Elysee Palace to celebrate the club's recent women's Champions League success, he seemed optimistic that a suitably ambitious transfer would be wrapped up shortly.

"We're fine-tuning the talks," Aulas said, as per ESPN. "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."

According to The Mail, Traore's switch to Ligue 1 is worth approximately £16m ($20.2m). The 21-year-old made 16 senior appearances for his parent club in 2015-16 after returning from a year-long spell at Vitesse Arnhem, but evidently does not feature in Antonio Conte's long-term plans at Stamford Bridge.

Traore would be the sixth player to depart Chelsea in recent weeks, following in the footsteps of John Terry, Asmir Begovic, Juan Cuadrado, Christian Atsu, Dominic Solanke and Partizan Belgrade loanee Danilo Pantic.

He may not be the only player set to swap England for Lyon, with Aulas also revealing that forgotten Manchester City centre-back Eliaquim Mangala, who spent 2016-17 season on loan at Valencia, had met the club with a view to a possible move.

OL lost highly-rated midfielder Corentin Tolisso to Bayern Munich in a £35m deal last week and have also allowed Mathieu Valbuena to join Fenerbahce. Rachid Ghezzal's contract has now expired and Jordy Gaspar also left for rivals Monaco.

Lyon's only confirmed signing of the summer so far is Brazilian full-back Fernando Marcal, who penned a four-year contract at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais after arriving from Benfica for a €4.5m fee.