Arsenal: Shenanigans As Usual From Lyon, Lacazette

Arsenal has officially made a bid for Alexandre Lacazette, according to Lyon, but it was far too little. But that’s okay, we should take hope!

Arsenal’s bid for Alexandre Lacazette has officially been confirmed by Olympic Lyon, but unfortunately, it was a just £29.3m, which Lyon president Aulas says he did not respond to because Lacazette is ‘irreplaceable’.

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I call shenanigans.

If Lacazette was ‘irreplaceable’ then Lyon would have no reason to deny that Arsenal made another bid, a reported £40m bid. They keep throwing around numbers and rejecting low-balled offers, but if money wasn’t an issue, then Aulas has no reason to come out and say what the bids were and deny other rumored bids.

It’s the usual run-around from Aulas, who often acts like a used-car salesman. These tactics have been used so many times before and they always seem to work. Aulas talked up how irreplaceable Michael Essien was before he was promptly sold to Chelsea and he is doing it again with his next star pupil.

Alexandre Lacazette wants to leave. Last summer he wanted to leave, but again Aulas was drumming up the price of his prized possession. The two parties did not see eye to eye on a lot of things and it lead to a feud developing that has no doubt soured Lacazette’s impression of the club.

Lyon have made a habit of growing and training talented players and selling them at a huge mark-up. It’s been their thing since Aulas took over. Alexandre Lacazette is simply the latest to meet this sales strategy. Constantly claiming that Lacazette is irreplaceable and not for sale is aimed towards driving up the price and eliminating everyone who isn’t serious from submitting a bid.

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We know that West Ham also had a £31m bid rejected, so the theme is pretty obvious. Everyone in the world valuates Lacazette at £30m but Lyon see him as £40m. That’s why they keep dropping the same price tag that they have yet to receive a bid at. They are merely baiting teams into upping their bid to the number that they keep subconsciously beating us over the head with.

At this point, the shenanigans are getting pretty old. Either Lyon are waiting until the very last moment, just to see if they can get a better offer, or they really are going to hold onto him if their price tag is not met, and it’s unlikely Arsenal will meet that. If it’s the former, then they look to miss out, because Lacazette is never going to be more valuable than he is now. His value fell after last summer’s breakout, but the French side are still asking for the same price.

With guys like Wissam Ben-Yedder still out there, there’s no reason to desperately pay whatever Lyon want just yet. Arsenal has other options and something tells me Wenger doesn’t like being given this runaround. He likes to be in control.

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Arsenal will get a striker, but if Lyon keep up their shenanigans, it may not be Lacazette. We can take hope though, because clearly Wenger is submitting offers. That means he sees Arsenal’s needs.