It’s seems Olympique Lyonnais has signed a replacement for Arsenal target, Houssem Aouar. This is following the Ligue 1′ club’s announcement of Lucas Paqueta’s arrival from AC Milan.

The 23-year-old Brazilian joined the Les Gones on a five-year deal. His arrival of following the departure of Thiago Mendes and Jean Lucas, who left last summer. Lyon also lost Bruno Guimarães and Camilo during the winter transfer.

In Paqueta, Olympique Lyonnais now have another Brazilian after reaching an agreement with the San Siro club. The attacking midfielder born in Rio de Janeiro has committed to the Rhône-valley club for the next five seasons.

Paqueta, during his stint in Italy, made 37 appearances in the Serie A, scoring one goal after moving to the European club from Flamengo.

The Flamengo academy product joined the San Siro giant in January 2019 and made a promising start. Unfortunately, he was not consistent in his performance with the Rossoneri. This led to reduced his playing time, prompting a move away fro the club to get regular playing time elsewhere, and he chose Lyon.

With the 23-year-old out of Milan’s payroll, the Rossoneri will now get an additional fund to sign a new player in the current transfer window.

The Brazilian already has 11 caps for his country, scoring two goals. He can be used as a midfielder in a 4-3-3 or play a playmaker’s role in a 4-2-3-1 system.

He is also a utility player, wh can be deployed to the wings. It is now left for Lyon coach, Rudi Garcia, to decide where he could help the team in their quest to secure a return to European competition next summer.

Although Lyon already has a packed midfield, including Memphis Depay, Aouar, and Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, the Brazilian is expected to fit into the squad.

The imminent exit of Aouar is also expected to create a space for Paqueta to move in and play.

Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed