Houssem Aouar

JJ12

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Why do we always leave these moves till the final day of the window?
Doubt we knew the extent of Eriksen’s until recently. We wouldn’t have signed anyone without it.
 

Messier1994

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Is this a go-er?
Unless I missed something, it unfortunately seems like it basically can be ruled out. If it’s about money, we won’t bulge. If the terms were agreed, we would have signed him a few hours ago.

Sky reported that we had been offered Aour but decided to only pursue Sabitzer. If Lyon was fighting tooth and nails to get out the last penny in a deal for him — the info would be out there.

Under what scenario is this dragging out this late without there being much info about it out there? I don’t see it, but hope I am wrong.
 

Ole'sattheWheel

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This deadline day is a breath of fresh air compared to Aouar recruitment team have operated in the past
 
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Blood Mage

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Would have taken him on loan but not sure about signing him permanently, he's very inconsistent and hasn't developed much since he was a kid. Still a decent technician though.
 

Harold_Giles

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Because our cover for Eriksen was signed, but we have no cover for Bruno. We lost Eriksen completely, we didn’t loan a backup
Alright, fair enough.
I'd prefer to see more of Pellestri or move Sancho more centrally when we need a Bruno cover.
 

croadyman

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Alright, fair enough.
I'd prefer to see more of Pellestri or move Sancho more centrally when we need a Bruno cover.
Yeah could have done with signing two CM's as got 3 injured at the moment with Eriksen and Donny out for most of season.
 

Bojan Djordjic

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There must be something wrong with Aouar behind the scenes. Mad how a player of his talent and availability has just never been picked up in the analytics era. There was something going around on twitter the other day of teammates at Lyon fearing he may becoming radicalised due to him having visited Mecca and growing his beard out which sounds so over the top dumb and islamophobic but at the same time I feel like there has to be something behavioural or character driven for him not to have been picked up at this stage. To be clear, I'm not saying he's a terrorist but he might just be a good old fashioned bad egg to the extent clubs are just avoiding the hassle with him.
 

the_cliff

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There must be something wrong with Aouar behind the scenes. Mad how a player of his talent and availability has just never been picked up in the analytics era. There was something going around on twitter the other day of teammates at Lyon fearing he may becoming radicalised due to him having visited Mecca and growing his beard out which sounds so over the top dumb and islamophobic but at the same time I feel like there has to be something behavioural or character driven for him not to have been picked up at this stage. To be clear, I'm not saying he's a terrorist but he might just be a good old fashioned bad egg to the extent clubs are just avoiding the hassle with him.
Think it's more like he's desperate to leave Lyon and he hasn't had the best relationship with Aulas. He seems to have downed tools. Hence he is technically a bad egg. Be interesting to see how he does at his new club in the summer as he'll be leaving on a free. I reckon we'll suddenly see the talent we did 3-4 years ago.
 

DWelbz19

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There must be something wrong with Aouar behind the scenes. Mad how a player of his talent and availability has just never been picked up in the analytics era. There was something going around on twitter the other day of teammates at Lyon fearing he may becoming radicalised due to him having visited Mecca and growing his beard out which sounds so over the top dumb and islamophobic but at the same time I feel like there has to be something behavioural or character driven for him not to have been picked up at this stage. To be clear, I'm not saying he's a terrorist but he might just be a good old fashioned bad egg to the extent clubs are just avoiding the hassle with him.
What?! It’s blatant Islamophobia.

EDIT: they said similar things about Nabil Fekir. They actually asked him to shave his beard to avoid it being associated to Islam.
 

Bojan Djordjic

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Think it's more like he's desperate to leave Lyon and he hasn't had the best relationship with Aulas. He seems to have downed tools. Hence he is technically a bad egg. Be interesting to see how he does at his new club in the summer as he'll be leaving on a free. I reckon we'll suddenly see the talent we did 3-4 years ago.
I personally, based purely on footballing ability, think he would have been a lovely profile of player to deputise for Eriksen. Unlike a lot of our players, he has a great ability to turn on the ball and is a nice dribbler and creative passer while being relatively secure in possession. Given that he would have essentially been as close to free bar wages, it would have been a nice addition.
 

kaku06

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There must be something wrong with Aouar behind the scenes. Mad how a player of his talent and availability has just never been picked up in the analytics era. There was something going around on twitter the other day of teammates at Lyon fearing he may becoming radicalised due to him having visited Mecca and growing his beard out which sounds so over the top dumb and islamophobic but at the same time I feel like there has to be something behavioural or character driven for him not to have been picked up at this stage. To be clear, I'm not saying he's a terrorist but he might just be a good old fashioned bad egg to the extent clubs are just avoiding the hassle with him.
Think it's more like he's desperate to leave Lyon and he hasn't had the best relationship with Aulas. He seems to have downed tools. Hence he is technically a bad egg. Be interesting to see how he does at his new club in the summer as he'll be leaving on a free. I reckon we'll suddenly see the talent we did 3-4 years ago.
Do both of you think he’s worth picking up on a free not as a squad player but as someone who can elevate us? At his best, can he displace Bruno or someone else in the staring 11? I was hugely impressed with him v Bayern in the CL quarter I think a few years back but have no clue what’s he’s like now.
 

JPRouve

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There must be something wrong with Aouar behind the scenes. Mad how a player of his talent and availability has just never been picked up in the analytics era. There was something going around on twitter the other day of teammates at Lyon fearing he may becoming radicalised due to him having visited Mecca and growing his beard out which sounds so over the top dumb and islamophobic but at the same time I feel like there has to be something behavioural or character driven for him not to have been picked up at this stage. To be clear, I'm not saying he's a terrorist but he might just be a good old fashioned bad egg to the extent clubs are just avoiding the hassle with him.
Aouar hasn't been particularly good, he hasn't developed as well as it was hoped and he is fairly average. That's what is wrong with him.
 

Bojan Djordjic

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What?! It’s blatant Islamophobia.

EDIT: they said similar things about Nabil Fekir. They actually asked him to shave his beard to avoid it being associated to Islam.

Yeah, it's pretty ignorant if true, especially as there are quite a lot of arab players at Lyon who presumably are at least culturally muslim.
 

Bojan Djordjic

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Aouar hasn't been particularly good, he hasn't developed as well as it was hoped and he is fairly average. That's what is wrong with him.
Lyon have been pretty terrible though and Aouar's statistics remain at a decent level in the seasons he's played a lot. We've seen how playing under a bad manager in a bad system affects individual performance so definitely think he'd have been worth a punt for 6 months at virtually zero risk.
 

Ekeke

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Aouar hasn't been particularly good, he hasn't developed as well as it was hoped and he is fairly average. That's what is wrong with him.
And yet Guimares was no better at Lyon, but fantastic in the premier league
 

JPRouve

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Lyon have been pretty terrible though and Aouar's statistics remain at a decent level in the seasons he's played a lot. We've seen how playing under a bad manager in a bad system affects individual performance so definitely think he'd have been worth a punt for 6 months at virtually zero risk.
Aouar hasn't been particularly good in years, it's not something new there is no one to blame. And stats are meaningless watch him play and you will understand, he is inconsistent and ineffective. It's simply a case of player that was promising as a teenager and didn't really improve much.
 

JPRouve

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And yet Guimares was no better at Lyon, but fantastic in the premier league
Guimaraes was significantly better, the only reason he was sold was because Lyon needed money.
 

zaafi

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And yet Guimares was no better at Lyon, but fantastic in the premier league
Guimaraes was great for Lyon, and much better than Aouar. No idea why we weren't in for him because he's a massive upgrade on McTominay. Fantastic box-to-box midfielder.
 

Bojan Djordjic

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Aouar hasn't been particularly good in years, it's not something new there is no one to blame. And stats are meaningless watch him play and you will understand, he is inconsistent and ineffective. It's simply a case of player that was promising as a teenager and didn't really improve much.
I'll take your word for it. I don't watch french football much so am relying on comps and fbref but 6 goals and 4 assists from midfield last year seems ok in terms of output, no? Shame if he isn't living up to his early potential as he does have a lovely style of playing, aesthetically speaking.
 

JPRouve

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I'll take your word for it. I don't watch french football much so am relying on comps and fbref but 6 goals and 4 assists from midfield last year seems ok in terms of output, no? Shame if he isn't living up to his early potential as he does have a lovely style of playing, aesthetically speaking.
It's not from center midfield. These stats are mainly as an AM/LAM and those are obviously not remarkable figures for an attacking midfielder. The one thing that still makes him an interesting signing is that he is still young and has shown that he can be good but when it comes to why Lyon aren't desperate to keep him and why no top clubs tried to seriously sign him, the answer is fairly straightforward, he has not been good.
 

bucky

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And yet Guimares was no better at Lyon, but fantastic in the premier league
That's not true at all.

Aouar hasn't been particularly good in years, it's not something new there is no one to blame. And stats are meaningless watch him play and you will understand, he is inconsistent and ineffective. It's simply a case of player that was promising as a teenager and didn't really improve much.
The stats are saying the same thing. His stats show his decline.
 

RC89

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Yeah, it's pretty ignorant if true, especially as there are quite a lot of arab players at Lyon who presumably are at least culturally muslim.
The Islamophobia is shocking. Going to Mecca means you might be radicalised? Mecca has literally millions of pilgrims a year. The vast majority of Muslims aspire to go to Mecca for pilgrimage with a significant amount having performed it.

In fact, I'd wager most Muslim footballers will have been to Mecca at some point too. This is what irresponsible media coverage does, breeds ignorance.
 

JPRouve

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That's not true at all.



The stats are saying the same thing. His stats show his decline.
Then stats are extremely meaningful. :D

But seriously I didn't pay any attention to stats, Aouar isn't a mystery when you watch Lyon. His trajectory reminds me Gonalons, he was genuinely good as a teenager and bang average later.
 

Fortitude

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Aouar hasn't been particularly good, he hasn't developed as well as it was hoped and he is fairly average. That's what is wrong with him.
What's going on with Fekir (outside of injuries)? Is his trajectory still looking skyward, or has that all died off now?