Ben Arfa recently announced he would consider his future in the summer after starting on the bench in most of Les Gones' final games of the season.

A number of leading European teams have been put on alert, with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger among those reported to be an admirer of the French international.

In France, Marseille are also believed to be keeping tabs on the 21-year-old left-winger, and Aulas admits he rather see Ben Arfa turn out for a rival club in Ligue 1 than move abroad.

"I'm not opposed to a move to Olympique Marseille for Hatem," Aulas told French newspaper L'Equipe.

"As for equivalent offers, I'd prefer the player to go to a French club before he joined a foreign one."

Ben Arfa has recently turned down Lyon's offer of an extension to his contract, which is set to expire in 2010.

Marseille would seem the likely destination for the youngster if he remained in France, after OM president Pape Diouf recently admitted in the French media that he "would not hesitate a second" to sign Ben Arfa.