Arsenal Must Spend Big to Land Transfer Target Alexandre Lacazette

In some ways, it’s surprising that it’s taken so long for news of Arsenal’s interest in Alexandre Lacazette to be officially confirmed.

The Gunners’ hunt for a new striker has seen them linked with a string of names, but the France international’s always rang true. The question now is whether the club are prepared to pay the price needed to prise him away from Lyon.

The news that the Gunners are after Lacazette has come via the French club. In an official statement (h/t the Mirror) in response to disruptive rumours, they said:

Olympique Lyonnais categorically deny having received an offer of €48million from Arsenal for the transfer of Alexandre Lacazette, as Le Progres report this morning.

The club is disappointed that Le Progres didn’t go to the effort of contacting us before publishing this false information, which creates confusion on the day the club is publishing its annual figures.

The reality is that Arsenal made a €35million bid, which Olympique Lyonnais turned down for one reason: l’OL will keep Alexandre Lacazette, who is irreplaceable and who is one of the main leaders in Bruno Genesio’s squad.

Lacazette fits the profile of player Arsenal are after. He is a quick, mobile striker who provides an obvious alternative to Olivier Giroud. He’s also a proven goalscorer—last season he racked up 21 goals in 34 Ligue 1 appearances. 

Manager Arsene Wenger has plundered French football for some of his most astute purchases, and there’s no way he could have missed Lacazette’s dramatic rise.

A product of the Lyon academy, he initially made his first-team breakthrough as a winger. That’s the same transition that previous Wenger strikers like Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie made with such success. 

The Arsenal boss is on record about his belief that an apprenticeship on the flanks can be the making of a player. The confined spaces force players to work on the close control that can later prove invaluable in crowded penalty boxes. In Lacazette’s case, it also appears to have allowed him to develop a good understanding of how to exploit the channels between full-back and centre-half.

Lacazette’s speed and intelligence make him difficult to track, and as a rule he is …

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