Tottenham tipped to join race for Lyon star Houssem Aouar

Tottenham have emerged as contenders to sign Lyon's Houssem Aouar, joining Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid in the race for the Frenchman.

Aouar has been tipped for a move away from Les Gones for a number of seasons now, with speculation intensifying of late following reports he had failed to return back to pre-season training as planned.

The midfielder took to social media to deny he had gone AWOL and revealed he had in fact been forced into hospital through illness, yet the speculation around his future remains.

Peter Bosz is a big fan of Aouar and is keen to keep hold of the midfielder, but the newly-appointed Les Gones manager is aware of the need to generate transfer funds before the club will sanction any new arrivals - meaning Aouar's departure looks increasingly likely.

Lyon previously quoted a figure of €40m (£34.2m) when Arsenal lodged their interest in the 23-year-old last summer, though the ongoing financial crisis in French football means he could now be available for as little as €25m (£21.3m).

News of his availability hasn't gone unnoticed across Europe and Le10 Sport report that Spurs are the latest club to show an interest in Aouar, just weeks after it emerged Arsenal had reignited their pursuit.

PSG and Atletico Madrid are also keeping tabs on the midfielder, meaning Lyon may be able to take advantage of a bidding war as they look to generate as much money from a possible sale.

The Gunners are already understood to have tabled a bid for Aouar which was swiftly rejected by the Ligue 1 outfit. The exact amount of said bid has not been disclosed, but it's believed to be below €20m (£17.1m) meaning they've got some way to go before they match Lyon's valuation of the one-cap France international.