Chelsea are reportedly keen on bringing Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar to Stamford Bridge and are preparing a bid.

Aouar has impressed individually in what has been a difficult season for Lyon domestically.

Lyon find themselves sitting in seventh place in Ligue 1 and are facing an uphill battle to qualify for Europe again next season.

However, the French side did manage a 1-0 win against Juventus in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Wednesday night.

Aouar has scored nine and assisted seven over the course of the season so far, attracting interest from clubs overseas.

According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Chelsea are taking the initiative in trying to sign the French midfielder.

The Premier League side are reportedly in a hurry to force a move through in order to beat Juventus to the signing.

The report states that the Blues are ‘serious’ about a deal and are ‘ready’ to launch a £42.5m bid for Aouar.

Chelsea were unable to sign players last summer due to their transfer ban but they overturned it via appeal in time for January.

Despite the successful appeal, Chelsea didn’t sign any players in the winter window, even though Frank Lampard was vocal about their need for reinforcements.

Chelsea did end up signing Hakim Ziyech from Ajax on a pre-contract agreement that will see the Moroccan move to west London in June.

Lampard could use yet more bodies in midfield following reports that Jorginho’s future at the club could be in doubt.

The deep-lying playmaker is thought to be open to returning to Italy to play under former boss Maurizio Sarri at Juventus.