Lyon confirm Real Madrid do not have buyback option on Mariano Diaz

Lyon have confirmed Real Madrid do not have the option of activating a buyback clause in Mariano Diaz's contract.

Diaz, 24, joined the Ligue 1 side for a fee of €8m (£7.1m) during the summer transfer window, tasked with filling the void left by Alexandre Lacazette following his club-record switch to Arsenal. The striker was encouraged to make the move to France by Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane and so far the new recruit has not let his side down, scoring seven goals in 11 appearances across all competitions.

His excellent start to life in France prompted speculation in the Spanish press that Real retained an option to bring the player back to the Bernabeu.

When allowing promising young players to leave the club over the years, Real Madrid have frequently included buyback options, allowing them to bring the player back should he sufficiently impress elsewhere. Current first-team stars Dani Carvajal and Casemiro both took that path, along with Alvaro Morata, who left the club for a second time to sign for Chelsea this summer.

Diaz, however, recently explained in an interview with Radio Marca that he is unaware of such a clause, and now Lyon have confirmed his ties with the Spanish champions are cut completely.

"Olympique Lyonnais wishes to point out that there is no buyback clause in the transfer of Mariano Diaz, contrary to the assertion of some Spanish media," a statement from the club read.

"Olympique Lyonnais precisely explained the terms of the transfer in its press release dated June 30 2017, namely a transfer amount of €8m plus an interest of 35% on the capital gain of a possible future transfer.

"Any other information that that given in the press release is therefore erroneous."

Diaz was on the score sheet as Lyon sealed an impressive 3-2 win over champions Monaco last Monaco but subsequently suffered a groin injury that ruled him out of the 2-1 win over Everton in the Europa League on Thursday.