Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly leading the race to sign Lyon playmaker Lucas Paqueta this summer.
The Brazil international excelled in various positions across the forward line last term, registering 11 goals and seven assists in 44 appearances for Les Gones across all tournaments.
Paqueta hit nine goals and set up six more in 35 Ligue 1 outings, but Peter Bosz's side missed out on a place in European football and also lost out to West Ham United in the Europa League quarter-finals.
As a result, Paqueta has been linked with a big-money move away from the Groupama Stadium, with president Jean-Michel Aulas confirming that offers had been tabled.
"There are offers for him. There are some players who can feel fully fulfilled in the project, and others who are not," Aulas recently told the press.
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"Economically, we have the means to pursue our ideas and our objectives. The coach gave us his opinion and there is also what the players want to do."
According to L'Équipe, Man City and Spurs are now at the head of the queue to sign the 24-year-old, and Pep Guardiola's side have made the most progress in their pursuit.
Tottenham are believed to have seen an offer of €40m (£33.4m) knocked back by Lyon in January, but Paqueta has informed Les Gones of his desire to move on.
Arsenal and Newcastle United have also been linked with a summer move for Paqueta, but the versatile attacker reportedly has no interest in a move to either club.
Gunners technical director Edu has also ruled out the prospect of his side attempting to secure Paqueta's signature, telling TNT Sports: "I'm very respectful when I talk about Lucas (Paqueta). I'm a guy who likes him a lot. I've always liked him, since my time with Brazil's national team.
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"He's had a great season; he was considered the best (foreign) player in the French league. But today, there really isn't any kind of talk, there's only my admiration for the player, because the squad today is, in the position he plays, very well-served in this regard."
Paqueta has visited Tyneside to meet up with former Lyon teammate Bruno Guimaraes, but Newcastle would not be able to offer the South American the chance to play in Europe.
While Man City are said to be in pole position to sign Paqueta, the Premier League champions would allegedly be unable to welcome the 24-year-old to the club without parting ways with Bernardo Silva first.
Silva was known to be on the lookout for a new club last summer, and the Portuguese's agent Jorge Mendes is supposedly working on a transfer for his client this time around.
Meanwhile, Spurs are expected to free up space in their squad in the coming weeks, with Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil, Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon all preparing to depart.
Paqueta's contract at Lyon runs until 2025, and the former AC Milan starlet has banked a total of 20 goals and 13 assists in 76 outings for the Ligue 1 side since 2020.
Ben Knapton
