Lyon chief vows to hold on to star striker as Premier League clubs circle

Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle face a major battle to sign prolific forward Alexandre Lacazette after Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas revealed they are in talks to extend his contract.

Lacazette has been strongly linked with a move to the Premier League following a superb season for the French club, in which he has scored 17 goals.

The 22-year-old is rated as one of the best strikers in France and has been attracting interest from a number of top clubs.

Arsene Wenger, Brendan Rodgers and Alan Pardew are all looking to strengthen their forward lines during the summer and were hoping they would win the race to clinch his signature at the end of the season.

But Aulas is determined to keep his star asset at the club and, even though Lacazette's contract does not run out until 2016, he hopes he can stop all the speculation over his future by convincing the player to agree to a new long-term deal

Aulas, speaking on RMC Sports, said: "Alexandre Lacazette? We are negotiating and we aim to extend his contract."