Wednesday, 8th January, 2014
Lyon have turned down a €17m offer from Napoli for captain Maxime Gonalons, club president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed.
Gonalons had been due for talks with Aulas earlier this week over his future, after heavy links with Rafael Benitez's Napoli.
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Napoli were understood to be preparing a €13m bid for Gonalons in late December, but that was revised recently.
Gonalons has also been a target for Arsenal, though the Frenchman had previously also stated his intention complete the 2013/14 season with Lyon.
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"There has been an increased offer from Napoli", Aulas was quoted by L'Equipe as saying. "The proposal was raised to €17m.
"We decided to convince Max that his future was at Lyon, at least until the end of the season.
"I had chat with Aurelio De Laurentiis, president of Naples, who is someone I respect. I warned him that I was going to tell Max to stay in Lyon.
"The decision was taken on Monday night. I saw Max on Monday afternoon and I consulted extensively with [coach] Remi Garde.
"He told me it was absolutely necessary to keep Max because he is the symbol of our policy. He is part of the Lyon trained players who can go to the World Cup in Brazil."
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