"We're going to do everything to keep them. We'd like to qualify for the Champions League," said Aulas, whose side currently sit second in the Ligue 1 table thanks in no small part to Fekir's 16 league goals and the four contributed by Aouar.

"If we were to lose them, we would sell them very expensively. But it would be dramatic for us because they have Lyon DNA."

Fekir, 24, took over the captaincy at Lyon following Maxime Gonalons' departure to Roma, and was instrumental in the club's 2-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain last Sunday, opening the scoring after two minutes.

Fekir's impressive performances have seen him linked to Arsenal while Barcelona have made enquiries about Aouar, 19.

Lyon president Aulas has also revealed that he could be tempted to bring Hatem Ben Arfa back to the club where he started his career.

Ben Arfa came through the Lyon youth academy before moving on to Marseille, Newcastle United and Nice, among others. Now frozen out of the first-team picture at PSG after 18 disappointing months in the capital, the 30-year-old could return to his first club.

"Hatem is an incredibly sensitive boy," Aulas told L'Equipe TV.

"I went to see him at Nice to prepare his return to Lyon, but that didn't work out for economic reasons. Whether the heart rules the financial aspects regarding him, we'll have to see. It's up to him to decide, to see what he wants to do. If he had decided himself, he wouldn't have gone to PSG."