Lyon would welcome the return of Hatem Ben Arfa to the seven-time French champions, according to the club's presidential advisor Bernard Lacombe.
Ben Arfa, 29, started his career at Lyon and will revisit the city on Friday when Nice travel there with designs of leapfrogging the hosts to move second in the Ligue 1 table.
The former Newcastle attacker is in devastating form this season, having scored 16 goals in Ligue 1 and made four more.
Despite Nice's lofty league position, their president Jean-Pierre Rivere indicated earlier this week that it will be difficult to keep hold of their star player next season.
Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid have been mentioned as possible future destinations but former Lyon and France striker Lacombe, 63, told L'Equipe that Ben Arfa's first club might also try to tempt him back.
Lacombe, who has an official role as an advisor to Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, helped bring Ben Arfa to Lyon as a teenager.
"Why not?," he said when asked about the prospect of Ben Arfa returning. "We dream of seeing him back with us. He left Lyon at a time when there were all the great players.
"It was difficult for the young players to integrate and to be starters."
Ben Arfa came through the Lyon youth academy when the club was in the midst of winning seven Ligue 1 titles in a row between 2001 and 2008.
While he played his part in four of those campaigns, the French international was not a guaranteed starter and decided to leave for Marseille in 2008.
Now Lacombe thinks he could return next season to play alongside Nabil Fekir and Alexandre Lacazette in attack and help form Lyon's version of the Barcelona front trio of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
"Yes, it's possible," he said. "If we're playing in the Champions League next season then why not?
"There's a club like Barcelona who play with three extraordinary players. The three players you've cited are capable of doing huge, really huge, things together."