Lacazette will stay at Lyon – Aulas

Lyon will not sell striker Alexandre Lacazette in January with president Jean-Michel Aulas claiming they are more likely to bring players in.

Lacazette has been critical to Lyon’s tilt at the Ligue 1 title so far this season, leading the club to second, scoring 17 of their 40 goals to top the goal-scoring table in the French top flight.

That form has seen him linked with Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle United in the Premier League but Aulas is not interested in selling Lacazette, who has a contract with Lyon until June 2018, as the French club aim to return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2011-12.

“We’re not selling,” Aulas said, according to Ligue1.com.

“We’ve just invested €400million in a new stadium, so selling our best players, who would help us to bring Champions League football to our new home, would be anathema to our whole strategy.”

Lacazette is playing the best season of his career with 19 goals in all competitions.

The 23-year-old’s previous best tally is 22 last season and, with half the campaign remaining, Lacazette looks set to continue to attract admirers.

The Frenchman will see a number of his fellow forwards depart the Stade de Gerland from mid-January due to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and Aulas is keen to bring in reinforcements as Lyon aim to reel in Ligue 1 leaders Marseille.

Lyon (39 points) trail Marseille by two points, while reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain (38) and Saint-Etienne (36) are close behind.

Guinea’s Mohamed Yattara and Clinton Njie of Cameroon will head to the AFCON in Equatorial Guinea, while another striker – Yassine Benzia – is injured.

“We could strike it lucky and find a player who would like to join us on loan, and if we can do that, we would naturally prefer to find a forward,” Aulas said.

“It would entail the advantage of being very economical.”