AS Roma reach five-year agreement with Houssem Aouar

AS Roma are closing in on their first signing of the summer as they have reached an agreement with Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar, reports Sky Sport Italia.

The French midfielder, whose current deal at Lyon expires this summer, will sign a five-year contract with the Italian giants.

Roma have beaten clubs like Real Betis and Eintracht Frankfurt for Aouar, who is expected to sign his contract with Roma in the coming days.

A highly-admired academy graduate of Lyon, Aouar has made 231 appearances for the first team with 41 goals and 36 assists.

The 24-year-old has been heavily linked with an exit for years, however, a transfer never came to fruition, causing him to stay put at his long-time club.

Aouar also switched his allegiance to the Algerian national team earlier this year.

He has suffered a major dip in his performance this season mainly because of injury problems, making only 14 appearances in Ligue 1, out of which only six were starts.

Aouar was part of Les Gones’ side that stunned Juventus and Manchester City to reach the semi-finals of the 2019/20 Champions League.

His addition will further strengthen Roma’s midfield which already boasts the likes of Nemanja Matic, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Bryan Cristante, Georginio Wijnaldum, Benjamin Tahirovic and Cristian Volpato.

Wijnaldum’s loan spell from Paris Saint-Germain expires this summer, and Giallorossi are planning to extend it.

Jose Mourinho’s men are losing momentum towards the tail end of the season, with their latest Serie A defeat against Inter Milan marking their fourth consecutive winless game.

As a result, Roma have slipped to seventh place, five points off the fourth-placed Inter.