Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed the club are on the verge of completing a £16.6m deal for Chelsea striker Bertrand Traore.
The 21-year-old spent last season on loan at Ajax where he impressed but he doesn’t appear to have a long-term future at Chelsea as Antonio Conte seeks further reinforcement up front.
Traore has been heavily linked with a move to Lyon since it emerged Chelsea want to re-sign Everton striker Romelu Lukaku this summer and their president has all but confirmed a deal will be completed imminently.
“We’re fine-tuning the talks,” London Evening Standard quotes Aulas as telling reporters while attending Elysee Palace, the resident of French president Emmanuel Macron.
“It’s a very ambitious operation, one that fits with what we had said. I hope to be able to conclude the deal in the next 10 days, if possible before the end of week.”
The Burkina Faso international’s departure will continue a good week for Chelsea as the Premier League champions are also set to profit from Mohamed Salah’s impending move from Roma to Liverpool after including a sell-on fee in the Egypt international’s move away from Stamford Bridge.
Traore scored nine goals in 24 league appearances for Ajax last season but particularly caught the eye in their European campaign that saw them lose the Europa League final to Manchester United.
Only Amin Younes (7.71) secured a higher WhoScored rating in UEFA’s second competition last season than Traore (7.56) of all Ajax players after playing a direct hand in eight goals in 13 appearances (four goals, four assists).
For more stats on Bertrand Traore, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
