Alexandre Lacazette is in talks to rejoin Lyon when his contract with Arsenal expires at the end of the season.
The striker recently rejected the offer of a new deal at the Emirates - a one-year extension - in favour of searching for a long-term deal elsewhere, according to L'Equipe .
And now it has emerged that Lacazette is in contact with the club he waved to goodbye to when signing for the Gunners in 2017 in what was then club-record arrival of £46.5million.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has stated that the French side will "do their best" to bring the 30-year-old back in June to the Groupama Stadium and now director Vincent Ponsot further confirmed their interest.
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"We've seen the maturity that he's acquired," Ponsot said. "We've always remained in contact with him. But bringing in big players is always complicated."
Lacazette has also long been linked with Atletico Madrid, with rumours he had already agreed to sign for the La Liga giants before his move to north London in 2017.
But his future at Arsenal remains officially undecided, with manager Mikel Arteta even handing him the captain's armband after Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang stripped of the role in December.
And Arteta was full of praise for his No.9 after stepping up, saying: "Laca has always been like that in the dressing room. You see how he is with the other players how willing he is to help. It’s in his nature.
"He's not a selfish player. He’s a player that’s happy when he makes the rest better. He's like this in the dressing room as well."
After Aubayemang left for Barcelona on deadline day in the anuary transfer window, the Spaniard is desperate not to leave himself short in Lacazette's position, with Eddie Nketiah - his only other established striker - also set to depart for free when the campaign comes to an end.
The Gunners were hoping to sign Fiorentina' s Dusan Vlahovic but the 22-year-old opted to choose Juventus in a £66million deal.
On contract negotiations, Arteta added: "As you know, we have certain players with a little bit of uncertainty in the summer so we have to plan what’s going to happen now and what’s going to happen in the summer.
"A lot has to be done, we know and we don’t expect big things to be happening, but we need to be very alert in the market to see if we can improve the team.
"We have to be prepared because things can happen and injuries can arise in this period of the season and you have to be prepared and planned."
