Report: Houssem Aouar favors signing with Juventus this summer

In my professional world, they say that three’s a trend. And if rumors are anywhere close to being the truth, then maybe we’re close to seeing another pattern of three become a trend in the coming weeks.

That’s because Juventus got eliminated from the Champions League and then signed Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018. That’s because Juventus got eliminated from the Champions League and then signed Matthijs de Ligt. And, after getting eliminated from the Champions League by Lyon earlier this month, Juventus might be making it three in three years.

At least, that’s reportedly what Houssem Aouar prefers.

According to le10sport and their “EXLCU” headline on Friday, the extremely talented 22-year-old Aouar doesn’t just seem a little bit interested in a potential move to Juventus this summer — it’s what he prefers if he were to leave Lyon. Aouar, a name that has been linked with a potential move to Juventus for what seems like most of the 2020 calendar year, was obviously a very big player in Lyon advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals (and then semifinals) against Juventus a couple of weeks ago. Even going back to the first leg between the two teams in February — hey, remember those simpler times? —

I’m not going to profess to be an expert in which French sports media outlets are much more reliable than others. For all I know — and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong on this one — le10sport could very well be the Tuttosport of France, with a whole lot of rumors and not much substance coming of what they throw out there.

I will just add this: A couple of hours after reporting the exclusive that Aouar prefers a move to Juventus this summer, le10sport also reported that Paris Saint-Germain and sport director Leonardo — remember him?! — are also very much interested in signing the young Frenchman this summer. (PSG being interested in a big-money player from one of their rivals — who woulda guessed that one, huh.)

The sticking point in all of this is that Lyon’s asking price for Aouar has reportedly been €50 million — and you know that has to be the starting point knowing how good he was in the Champions League and that he’s now shown that he can make a massive impact on the big stage. A €50 million asking price (at minimum) in this post-coronavirus summer transfer window is going to make things very, very tough — which isn’t all that difficult to figure out. We know Juve’s made one big-money signing the last two summers, but knowing the current financial climate it’s tough to know whether a third is possible.

But, if Juve were to pull the trigger on a big-money move to vastly improve their midfield, bringing in somebody like Aouer would make a whoooooole lot of sense.

Besides PSG, Aouar is also reportedly a transfer target of Manchester City and Arsenal, according to le10sport.