Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette paves the way for Thomas Lemar

Arsenal appear to be closing in on Alexandre Lacazette at long last, which should also pave the way for his countryman, Thomas Lemar.

It’s time to get analytical and think next step. With Arsenal now in the negotiation phase of landing Alexandre Lacazette once and for all (let’s hope) we are ready to talk about where to go next and the first place that my mind went is one of supreme optimism.

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Thomas Lemar.

The Monaco winger has been stalling his contract talks, supposedly in the hopes that Arsenal will come knocking. With the Ligue 1 champions likely holding on to Kylian Mbappe, especially with the Gunners out of the race, the coast is clear for Lemar to depart for greener pastures.

Landing Mbappe and Lemar never seemed likely, especially with Manchester City slivering in and nabbing Bernardo Silva before the dust could even settle at the end of the season. Lemar and Silva is a much more manageable exit and the Gunners should absolutely take advantage.

Not just that, but the money saved from landing Lacazette rather than Mbappe can be used freely to land other important figures towards building a Premier League title-winning side. If Mbappe was going to cost £130m (or even £100m), landing Lacazette for even his highest quote, £60m, frees up £70m (or still £40m) that the Gunners were feasibly prepared to spend.

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For less than half of that freed up money, the Gunners can land Thomas Lemar. And for anyone doubting that we need Lemar, let me say this: In terms of true wingers, guys who are naturally inclined to stretching play and not wanting to push themselves into central roles, the Gunners have, essentially zero. Theo Walcott, sure, but even he wants to be a striker, or at least wanted to, before he realized it wasn’t going to work.

That said, Lemar’s abilities can lead him to an attacking midfield role should Alexis Sanchez decide to take a bow. And honestly, it’s not like that would be the end of the world. Lemar is a 21 year old star-in-the-making at the cheapest price he is ever going to be. The guy scored 14 goals and created another 14. That is such a hefty total that you can’t even brush it off as “it’s only Ligue 1.”

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Lemar is a stalwart, someone that can propel an attack. If you want to talk about guys who can make the passing (I mean transfer) of Alexis bearable, this is one of the few.