Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has said Fred can leave the club after the Brazil striker finally returned following the winter break.The 24-year-old has been hotly tipped for a move to Paris Saint-Germain with Middlesbrough, Manchester City, Tottenham and West Ham also reportedly keen.

And rumours over his future have reached fever pitch after he arrived back at Les Gones eight days later than his team-mates.

"We knew that he would come back," Aulas told Lyon's official website. "We just didn't know when because he took his usual route of doing things differently to others.

"If he wants to leave he can do so. We have had enquiries about him of which one is from PSG.

"We'll take the time to discuss things with him. It's in his interest to find a club which will play him more and value him."

Fred has outlined his desire to leave the Stade Gerland after losing his place in the starting line-up to in-form France striker Karim Benzema and playing just 366 minutes of first-team football this season.

Aulas reckons there will be little difficulty in securing a move for the striker and would prefer to see Fred in a PSG shirt.

"There will be no difficulty," he added. "He will be wanted by many clubs. A young Brazil international is a rarity in the market.

"In the interest of French football we have to have a big club in Paris. We need PSG to develop and for that they need a certain number of big players.

"Other great Brazilian players have been successful there."

Aulas added that he would like to see Fred remain in France, but insisted there is no question of a loan deal for a player they bought from Cruzeiro for 16million euros in 2005.

"As vice-president of the Ligue de Football Professionnel, and for the value of television rights, I would prefer Fred to stay in France," he said.

"That's the reason we're ready to do what we can to help him secure a move to PSG.

"However, there is no possibility of us loaning him out."

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