Les Gones are on the cusp of claiming their sixth successive French title - a record for any of the major leagues in Europe.

But they once again failed in the Champions League, being dumped out by Roma in the last 16, while they were beaten 1-0 by Bordeaux in the Coupe de la Ligue final on Saturday.

Aulas is now ready to hand coach Gerard Houllier sizeable transfer funds in the hope of bringing further success to the Rhone-Alps team.

And the Lyon supremo admitted some players may have to leave as Houllier rebuilds his squad.

"We are going to bounce back," he told Lyon daily, Le Progres.

"We are already looking ahead to next season. The budget will be bordering on 200million euros and we are studying a certain number of trails as we look to reinforce.

"We are going to allow to leave two or three players who are being demanded by big clubs, and we will replace them with other players within a very precise framework."

It is believed left-winger Florent Malouda and left-back Eric Abidal, both France internationals, are interesting some of Europe's leading teams.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Gregory Coupet and Juninho, two of the club's more experienced players, are currently in talks as they look to prolong their deals until 2010.

Despite Lyon's monopoly of French football over the past six years, they have been unable to add a domestic cup to the healthy list of league titles they have accrued.

The latest blow came last weekend, when centre-half Henrique headed a 88th-minute winner for Bordeaux in a drab cup final Lyon should never have lost.

In Europe, Les Gones constantly reach the knockout stages, but have been unable to get past the quarter-finals in the past five seasons.

They were expected to go far this year, but despite claiming a decent goalless draw in the Round of 16 first leg in Rome, they lost 2-0 in the return fixture at the Stade Gerland.

They are 16 points clear of second-placed Lens in Ligue 1, and need just three more wins to secure the title.

Aulas has given his full backing to Houllier, whose future at the club has been questioned by some in the media in recent months.

"For my part, my confidence in him remains the same," he said.