Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette hiccup utterly sickening

Arsenal and Alexandre Lacazette seemed destined to join forces this summer, but a rather obvious hiccup has left Gooner’s feeling absolutely sick.

Arsenal’s need for a re-invigoration of sorts has led to the entire known world being linked to a move to North London, but Alexandre Lacazette is no stranger to these rumors. Arsene Wenger has been trying to secure his services for at least two years now, with last year being the most obvious.

It was last summer when the Gunners tabled a £35m bid which was rejected, as Lyon preferred to raise the price beyond comprehension and hold off for just one more year.

This summer, Lacazette is yet again making it perfectly clear that he wants to leave and with the overhaul needed at Arsenal, it only makes sense that a move to the Emirates would be the primary option.

However, in a new statement about his future, Lacazette mentioned that he would have to go somewhere with Champions League football on the docket. His words, as quoted by the Telegraph:

"This summer I might go for a breath of fresh air and try something different, always with the idea of progressing in football and as a person. I’m going to keep working, with the hope that good opportunities come for me this summer. [The team I join] will have to be in the Champions League and play good football – passing the ball, not just hitting it from box to box. Not kick and rush. That would not work for me."

Which is so, so obvious.

Yet so overlooked.

Why? Because we really do take for granted how important it is to qualify for Champions League football every year. But so too does Arsene Wenger, because it is a tool unlike any other. With that consistent qualification, you are always going to be able to attract the best names.

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This is such an obvious requirement for Lacazette, who is in his best years and would clearly want to be spending it competing for the highest honors. It’s just sickening that it took so long for it to sink in that he probably wouldn’t be too keen to come to a club playing in the Europa League.

That is hardly a step up.

This just opens the door for Liverpool to swoop in and pry Arsenal’s ideal striker away from them. I can’t really think of a more applicable word for it than ‘sickening’. It’s like hitting a brick wall. You realize that missing out on the Champions League severely hinders what sort of players will be attracted to the club.

The only hope I can draw from this is the fact that Manchester United were able to coax Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the theatre of dreams without Champions League football. Sometimes it’s just as exciting to be part of an overhaul as it is to join the best of the best, especially when that overhaul is geared towards getting a team that was one of the best back to that esteemed position.

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Of course, that usually requires a new, exciting manager to be effective. So all we can do is wait and see. It’s hard to imagine how the tides have turned so much in a year and now Lacazette may be out of Arsenal’s league.

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