West Ham United target Rachid Ghezzal missed his team’s first game of the season in Ligue 1, and Sport Witness are quoting L’Equipe as writing Lyon manager Bruno Genesio tried to avoid being drawn on the winger who is being heavily linked with a move away during this transfer window.
Without the attacker, Lyon still won their opening match, comfortably beating Nancy 3-0. “He felt discomfort in his groin,” was the response Genesio tried to use to explain the absence of Ghezzal from the squad post-match, but L’Equipe believe that due to him trying to depart quickly it could be something more than that. With his contract up next summer, several clubs are keen on the 24-year-old, including West Ham.
However, Lyon seem to want to hang onto him, and have rejected bids from both The Hammers and Everton, of £7 million and £8.5 million respectively. Arsenal also want to bring him in, but would rather wait until January and try to complete a pre-contract instead of trying to deal with the French club.
Last year, Ghezzal played the most appearances he has in a single season for Lyon’s senior side, with 29. During that time he scored eight times from out wide, giving him a total of 61 Ligue 1 appearances. His exploits have also earned him call-ups to the senior Algeria national team, for whom he has earned three caps.
