Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette is struggling to match the expectation level that he has created, the Ligue 1 outfit's president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed.
Lacazette, 24, ended last season as Ligue 1's leading scorer with 27 goals to break the club record for a single top-flight campaign and earn himself a contract extension that pushed his annual salary beyond €4 million.
The France international striker has had an underwhelming start to the 2015-16 campaign, however, failing to score in OL's opening three matches of the season, and was whistled off by Lyon fans when he was substituted during Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Rennes.
Aulas defended the forward, who came through the club's youth academy, claiming an injury was behind Lacazette's recent travails.
"It's true that Alexandre is struggling to put himself in the shoes of the leader that he has become," Aulas told RMC. "He had an extraordinary season last year. He took a blow to the back. I heard that he had to play with pain-killing injections.
"I told him to capitalise on the difficult moments in order to become even better. I have total confidence in Alexandre. Let him rest for eight days and then he'll come out fighting. He's a very good player, and he has found the motivation at Lyon to become an even greater player."
Aulas battled throughout the summer to keep Lacazette at the club, despite a number of European heavyweights being linked to the forward.
The OL boss, who has signed notably Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Rafael and Mathieu Valbuena this summer, hopes to construct a team founded on homegrown talents that can make the club competitive in Europe.
Lyon had been linked with Sergi Darder, but the Malaga midfielder's move to France looks unlikely to happen, even if Aulas admitted it was not entirely out of the question.
"It's not completely done, but we consider that it doesn't correspond to our needs for the moment," he added. "We have a lot of midfielders who have come through the youth academy. They had had a difficult start. But is it intelligent to add an international player to an already rich squad?"
Lyon lost an international midfielder when Yoann Gourcuff's contract expired in June after five injury-blighted campaigns with the seven-time Ligue 1 champions.
Gourcuff, 29, has yet to join another side and Stade 2 claimed last weekend the former AC Milan and Bordeaux man's ambition to relaunch his career had been hampered by a foot fracture that Lyon's medical staff had failed to diagnose.
The club issued a press release on Monday stating its "stupefaction" at the "grave accusations."
"To say that it's the fault of Lyon's medical staff is not very elegant," Aulas added. "I have always defended him, but I'm going to have to put certain things in perspective. The incident is closed. It's not very elegant. Period. I hope he finds a club that matches his talent and availability."