Nantes are ready to sell Amine Harit after new coach Claudio Ranieri failed to convince him to stay with the club, with Schalke reported to be favourites to secure his services.
Ranieri was presented as Nantes coach on Monday, succeeding Sergio Conceicao and charged with building on the promising second half of the season that saw them climb from second bottom in Ligue 1 in December to finish seventh.
At the former Leicester manager's unveiling Nantes president Waldemar Kita confirmed that France under-20 international Harit, who only signed a contract until 2020 with the club in January, would be allowed to depart.
"For me, no-one is going to leave," Kita said. "Except one because he is messing us around. We're going to let him leave. Yes, Amine Harit. He's leading us a merry dance. He sends me messages he has never written, messages he is made to write, by his agent, his parents ... he doesn't want to come back. What do you want to do?
"I didn't want to sell him. When I talked with Ranieri, he told me he wanted to make him his No. 10. But he also told me, 'If he leaves, he leaves.'
"But he called him, just like he called [Jordan] Veretout. Listen, the kids aren't touched by that. I would have been. If the president of Napoli called me, even if I didn't like him, I would listen. I don't know. I don't do things like that. I don't understand."