Arsenal and Man United target ‘destroyed’ by Lyon boos

Mark Scott
Alexandre Lacazette: Will leave 'at right time'

Club president Jean-Michel Aulas has hit out at Lyon fans for booing Alexandre Lacazette as he believes his latest quotes were misunderstood.

The French striker seemed to strongly hint that he would leave the Ligue 1 club in the summer, sparking rumours of another bid from Arsenal and a potential switch to Manchester United.

However, Aulas reckons these quotes were taken out of context in order to unsettle both the forward at the club ahead of an important derby clash.

Aulas told reporters: “Alexandre is destroyed psychologically because of what’s happened and it was based on a misunderstanding.

“Because Alexandre didn’t say that he wanted to leave Lyon to go and play for a big club.

“He was interviewed by one of your colleagues to talk about the derby and in the course of a sentence they said to him ‘but would you [leave one day]?’

“Alexandre hasn’t betrayed the club. He simply said that one day if like his friend Sam [Umtiti] he could go play for Barca or if like Karim Benzema, who left for Real Madrid and everyone was happy for him, he could go to a big club, he might.

“Why bring that out on the day of a derby? You’re putting huge pressure on kids… in front of thousands of people who don’t understand.

“I’m disappointed and it upset me.”

Lyon captain Maxime Gonalons also criticised the supporters who booed Lacazette.

“It’s unacceptable,” Gonalons said. “There were some things said in the press that weren’t interpreted in the right way.

“Alex is our goal scorer, he’s invested in our club for a long time and he passed the 100-goal mark for Lyon this season.

“You can’t boo such a player. You have to have a minimum of respect.”