Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette add-ons work both ways

Arsenal appear to be inching closer to Alexandre Lacazette, with Lyon now indicating they want add-ons. If that’s the case, throw them on.

Arsenal’s summer got started with a bang when they landed Bundesliga team of the year member Sead Kolasinac for a free. That alone is a summer-defining signing, but even still, we know that they need a striker. And we know that they are aggressively pursuing several strikers.

Alexandre Lacazette looks to be the one closest to locking into a deal. The Frenchman has been tied to a move to North London for each of the past two seasons. Each summer he makes it clear that he is ready to leave before Lyon jack up the rate and Arsene Wenger‘s bid falls short of the purchase price.

This summer, however, the bids appear to be more of a conversation rather than a one-off. According to the rumors out there, despite a bid already having been made, the Gunners remain in talks to land the 26 year old and now, according to recent reports, they have a price, with a catch.

The catch is that Lyon want to sell Lacazette with some add-ons attached. These add-ons would require Arsenal to pay more money to Lyon should Lacazette hit certain milestones, undoubtedly in the goals or trophies department.

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If that is the case, have at it. Add-ons work both ways. Sure, they are pesky that you have to pay for a player that you already have, but the fact that you are paying for him means that he has accomplished enough that some chump change shouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience.

I never understood why more deals don’t include add-ons. It makes much more sense than jacking up prices that only certain clubs can pay. With add-ons, teams can still get their asking price, but only if that player lives up to the expectations. If he doesn’t, well, he didn’t cost an outrageous price and neither team loses out on that much.

It’s a much more honest way to do business, which is probably why it doesn’t happen more often.

With Lacazette, Lyon appear to have set an asking price of £48m with £12m in add-ons. I can’t think of anything more fair. That is a very reasonable concrete price for what Lacazette has accomplished and if he does accomplish enough to hit all those add-ons, then we spent £60m on a striker that helped us accomplish more than we would have without him.

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And then, everyone wins. So what’s the hold up?

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