Davis Langdon and HOK Sports have been appointed to work on plans for a 55,000-seat stadium in Lyon, France's second city.

The venue, which could cost up to 拢100m, is to replace the 41,000-capacity Stade Gerland, home to the football team Olympique Lyonnais.

It is understood that Olympique wants to raise the standard of their stadium to compete with others in the Champions League.

The arena is likely to be shared with LOU, the city's rugby union team, which had previously planned to build a 22,000-seater stadium on a 22 ha mixed-use development to the north of the city centre.

Officials behind the stadium plans have also cited Arsenal's HOK-designed ground, Emirates Stadium, as a model for development following a visit to north London earlier in the year.