One of the hottest properties in French football will not come on the cheap, according to Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas. A report from the Daily Mirror claims that Willem Geubbels is a target for a number of top clubs from across Europe but they will have to pay close to £62.5m to land the 16-year-old.
Geubbels was linked with a move to Liverpool earlier in the year and even the likes of Tottenham tried to sign the youngster up but nothing could be thrashed out. The report also suggests that Bayern Munich and Chelsea held talks to sign the attacker in January but again, no deal was set up.
The reason why there is a mad scramble to sign the player up is that the Frenchman has rejected a new contract with the Ligue 1 giants and that will see him become a free agent after 2019.
That is enough for most of the top clubs in Europe to come chasing for him and even though Monaco, RB Leipzig, Barcelona and Manchester City have kept tabs on him, Aulas is not willing to let go the starlet so easily.
While speaking of Monaco’s approach to sign the attacker, Aulas was quoted by the FourFourTwo, saying:
“They have just cashed €300million or €400million, so they will pay for Geubbels. If Willem thinks he can have a better career in Monaco than Lyon… Monaco bought Pietro Pellegri for €25million. We will not make gifts.
“In any case, we try to have people with ethics. My biggest regret is never to have seen Willem alone, I’ll talk to him about it directly. It is the end of his contract in 2019.
“If Monaco makes an offer of €70million we will be disappointed because we believe [in Geubbels] a lot. We are reassured by his valuation.”
A quality talent but his asking price is too much
There are a number of top quality youngsters in the world of football and Geubbels seems to be one of them but his president seems set not to lose him on the cheap.
Paying the amount that Aulas has asked for isn’t a realistic one for a 16-year-old and it is more unlikely given that the French youngster has not made a start for the club this season with him being limited to only substitute appearances.
This might be a ploy from Aulas to ensure no one comes after his player and it will be interesting to see just how this works out in the summer transfer window.
