Arsenal: Final Alexandre Lacazette hurdle has been passed

Arsenal’s pursuit of Alexandre Lacazette is getting serious, and now that the last hurdle has been left in the dust, nothing stands in their way.

Arsenal’s quest for a striker looks to finally be coming for an end. After years of waiting for Olivier Giroud to be enough, we have come to the realization that while the big Frenchman is a stellar asset to maintain hold of, he needs a striker with different strengths, so they can offset each other.

Thankfully, despite the links tying Giroud to a reverse move to Lyon, Arsene Wenger has laid down the law and said that he is not for sale. Which is a good thing, even if you don’t know it yet.

The task goes on, then, to land Alexandre Lacazette and, as Lyon owner Jean-Michel Aulas made perfectly clear, Lacazette doesn’t go anywhere without Lyon finding a suitable replacement. But ‘suitable replacement’ doesn’t necessarily mean for Lyon what it means to, say, Bayern Munich. It doesn’t have to be a huge money deal.

In fact, better if it isn’t. Lyon have made a habit of buying up players on the cheap, raising them up and selling them off. Any player with potential, raw talent or any combination, can become a better player by stepping into the Lyon first team, where they will be given every chance in the world.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

That being the case, Lyon landing Bertrand Traore from Chelsea may be the news we have been waiting for. Again, it isn’t the ‘replacement’ in the sense that we are used to seeing, but it’s is the type of replacement Lyon are used to enacting.

21 years old and essentially replaced before he was even given a chance, Traore is brimming to get his proper chance and at such a young age, he has plenty of time to get all of that situated. And Lyon is just the place to do it.

This is what we have been waiting for. Traore is the striker that Lyon are going to replace Lacazette with. As Aulas also said, they aren’t in the market for stockpiling strikers. So why add another one if he didn’t plan on selling one?

Next: Arsenal's 30 Best Transfers Of Past 30 Years

If there were any remaining hurdles with the Lacazette saga, this was it. The price had been pretty much accepted, Giroud has been removed as a bargaining and now, with the replacement on the squad, the deal can be completed.

Home/Arsenal Transfer Rumours