Despite his recent disciplinary incident, Houssem Aouar insists he’s not planning to leave Lyon until at least next summer.

There was some renewed speculation around Houssem Aouar in the last week or so, after Lyon decided to drop him from their matchday squad to face Stade Reims at the weekend.

The decision was in the light of the player’s refusal to take part in the post-match warm-down session after Angers, but Aouar insists this was just a misunderstanding. He claims he thought he was supposed to avoid running on the Angers pitch due to an injury.

“There is nothing serious. It started with a misunderstanding,” explained Aouar. “What you need to know is that against Angers I did not play because of the quality of the pitch.

“The coach told me that I had to avoid playing on it because of my adductor injury. I refused to do the warm-down after the game for the same reasons.

“Honestly, there is no problem, I respect Juninho’s decision. He’s a club legend, he knows what he’s doing.”

As for the possibility of leaving Lyon in the January transfer window, Aouar was pretty insistent.

“I’ll be at Lyon until next summer, at least,” the midfielder said. “I do not see how I could be unhappy in my city, in my club. That is something that I do not understand.

“I am very happy to be here, I took the decision to stay with the club that formed me, I savour every day I have here.”

You never know what might happen if Arsenal do come in with a serious bid, but at the very least, it seems Aouar isn’t publicly angling for a January transfer. He clearly still has a positive relationship with the club, despite his recent indiscretion.

The 22-year-old midfielder has two goals and an assist in eight appearances this season.