Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette deal delayed due to pointless frugality

Arsenal has been on the brink of a deal with Alexandre Lacazette for a week, yet the bidding history is hardly inspiring. Hello, pointless frugality.

I try to avoid going all-in on a transfer rumor until it is reported by the few reputable publications out there. But let’s not name call. For now, let’s accept that one of those reputable publications, Sky Sports, is saying that Arsenal has submitted a new deal for Alexandre Lacazette worth £45m not including add-ons.

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See? They did say that. And that’s pretty good news, that negotiations are ongoing and that Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis are determined to bring in the few missing pieces to make this team whole.

What isn’t good is the fact that Lyon have already set the price for their prized striker, and the price was not £45m plus add-ons. The price was more in the vicinity of what Atletico Madrid were panning to pay for him, which was about £47m plus £10m in add-ons for a grand total of £57m.

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While we don’t know yet what the exact add on fee would be for Arsenal, if it isn’t £12m, then we have fallen short of their asking price yet again.

Perhaps I’m being nit picky here, but if the difference between landing him and drawing this excruciating process out for another month is just £2m, then what the hell are we waiting for? Unless that small bit of change is going to buy another certified Rob Holding, then it is pointless to hold out for it.

Plus, there is kind of a hurry to get this deal done, because a move of this caliber would absolutely catch the attention of Alexis Sanchez, who is still blurting into the microphone that he doesn’t know if he will be staying or not.

There is always a time for frugality. But in a case like this, where the difference is so little and the other negotiating party has a history like Jean-Michel Aulas has, the best course of action is to just cough up that extra bit and move on with it.

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For now, though, let’s just be happy that progress is being made. As long as talks are ongoing, we can rest assured that we are headed in the right direction.