Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette snub a bad start

Alexandre Lacazette has publicly revealed his admiration for Atletico Madrid and has reportedly snubbed Arsenal advances; a bad start for Arsene Wenger.

Arsene Wenger went on a little adventure last summer. Ever since the departure of Robin van Persie in the summer of 2012, there has been a need for a starring centre-forward who can fire Arsenal to a Premier League title. It took until the summer of 2016 for Wenger to take steps to address this issue.

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Unfortunately, though, he was unable to secure the man that he wanted. The venture started with a release-clause-activating £20 million bid for Jamie Vardy. The Leicester City striker, though, spurned Wenger’s advances amid fears over stylistic concerns. A £29 million bid was then rejected by Lyon for Alexandre Lacazette, with no improved offer ever made, and eventually, after continual links with a number of different options, Wenger was forced to settle for Lucas Perez as the window drew to a close.

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Perez has failed to perform as Wenger would have wanted and is seemingly facing an exit from the club this summer. As such, the unsuccessful search for a striker that plagued Wenger’s summer a year will once again be the centrepiece of this upcoming window. And, like last year, Lacazette could well be a target once more.

Disappointing, then, it will be for Wenger to read the Frenchman’s latest comments. The striker has stated his desire to leave in the past with a number of clubs interested in his services. However, he has never been specific about possible destinations. Or at least, that was before Tuesday. When asked about a possible exit and whether Atletico Madrid are an option, Lacazette revealed his admiration for the organisation, the managers and the players:

"“Yes, I like them. They’ve got great players, a great manager, a good fanbase and Antoine is there. We’ll see what happens at the end of the season and I’ll think about it then. There are things, but the press talk about a lot of clubs, but I trust what my agent tells me and we’ll see.”"

That is undoubtedly a bad start for Wenger as he looks to complete the quest of looking for a striker that he initiated last summer. Lacazette was one of the primary options to explore, given the success that he has enjoyed for a consistent number of years at Lyon and the possibility that Arsenal would be able to attract his attention.

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But these comments suggest that it will be a difficult challenge for Wenger to convince Lacazette to come to North London, and that is clearly a bad start for what is set to be a vital summer transfer window.