Arsenal Must Take Advantage Of ‘Prepared’ Alexandre Lacazette

Alexandre Lacazette has stated that he is prepared to leave Lyon to further his career. Arsenal must be the ones to take advantage.

Last summer, Arsene Wenger took on an endeavour to find a striker. He started his quest close to home, with a £20 million bid activating a release clause in Jamie Vardy’s contract. However, Vardy rejected Arsenal’s advances, stating stylistic concerns with Wenger’s slower, more measured, possession-orientated approach.

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He later had a £29 million rejected for Alexandre Lacazette, one that was rejected, and Wenger was unwilling to ever counter with a higher offer. By late August, after continual links with Karim Benzema, Alvaro Morata and Gonzalo Higuain failed to materialise, panic began to set in as he cast his net a little wider.

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Eventually, Wenger settled for the addition of Lucas Perez from Deportivo la Coruna in a £17 million. He has, in limited action, looked sharp in his first season in English football. But for whatever reason, Wenger is not trusting of his abilities in the biggest games, rarely starting him in the Premier League or in Europe.

And, as a result, the search must now begin all over again, with many of his former targets no longer available. There is one, though, that is still an extremely enticing and intriguing prospect that Arsenal would be wise to explore. And that is Lacazette. After yet another impressive season with Lyon, scoring 24 goals in 25 Ligue 1 starts, adding to 21, 27 and 15 league goal seasons, he is once more one of the hottest strikers available and could be available for the right price.

When asked about a possible summer departure, Lacazette stated that he would be prepared to leave Lyon if his next club saw him progress his career:

"“Will this be my last few months at Lyon? It depends which teams will be on offer to me. I am prepared to leave, but only to make a significant leap forward. Otherwise, nothing will happen.”"

That is an extremely exciting prospect. Lacazette is a tremendous striker with an excellent goalscoring rate. While there are concerns over the quality of the competition in the French league, Lacazette is a player that possesses the traits – his speed, the intelligence of his runs and his ruthless finishing – to excel at a much higher level.

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Arsenal would be wise to take advantage of Lacazette’s wanting to leave. Whether Lacazette views them as a step above Lyon or not, that remains to be seen, but he would be an astute addition, satisfying Wenger’s long time search for a striker.