Lyon hope to loan Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz (AS)

Lyon are hopeful of securing the loan return of Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz in January, according to Diario AS.

The Madrid outlet cites reports from France newspaper L’Equipe claiming Mariano - formerly of Lyon - and Hatem Ben Arfa are two prime January targets for the Ligue 1 side.

The Dominican-born striker has been involved in just one matchday squad for Los Blancos - the defeat at Real Mallorca earlier in the campaign - but he was an unused substitute.

“He will go on loan for two seasons, although we have not yet decided on the club,” his agent David Aranda was cited as saying by Diario AS last month.

A report in Diario Sport from November claimed the striker had been offered to Espanyol as multiple reports had linked Mariano with an exit from Madrid with Real Betis and Monaco among the clubs strongly rumoured to be interested, while El Mundo Deportivo also outlined interest from Milan.

He has been a peripheral figure across his two seasons at Madrid since his 2018 return from Lyon - with Karim Benzema, Rodrygo Goes and Luka Jovic as the established first choice strikers.