Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette process will make Nabil Fekir circus easier

Arsenal are creeping in on Nabil Fekir, but Jean-Michel Aulas is trying to talk his way out of it. Don’t worry, we’ve been here before. Just last summer actually.

Arsenal will be looking to load up on qualified replacements to take over for a still-likely-departing Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Both of them seem to have been boosted in their potential to stay by strong North London Derby performances.

But we shouldn’t be fooled into thinking this solidifies their future. We still need to plan for their exits, and it looks like we may be with the pursuit of Nabil Fekir.

The Lyon attacking midfielder, with a side job as a striker, has been on absolute fire this year, having a very Alexis Sanchez year. He’s scored 11 goals and four assists in 11 matches. Like I said, very Alexis-like.

It won’t be easy. Everyone is going to want him. His father did say that it would have to be Arsenal, but there is still the matter of getting a transfer accepted and forking up the money, which is no simple feat when Arsene Wenger and the Gunners are involved.

It starts to look even more convoluted when Jean-Michel Aulas starts talking about potential exits. The Lyon president had this to say: “Of course [he’ll remain], and nothing says he’ll leave at the end of the season.”

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He went on: “Of course, he has a very good chance of being at Lyon [next season too].”

Never a good sign. Usually with owners or coaches or players, they give you that courtesy “who knows what the future holds” or something like that. Presidents often say something about how everyone has a price or how some deals can’t be refused.

Not Aulas. Aulas likes to throw people off the scent. But guess what? We’ve been here before. We spent three years being told that Alexandre Lacazette was not going to leave and that he wanted to stay. The most recent time was this very summer when he made the move.

“I do not think that Alexandre Lacazette will leave this summer,” he said at the tail-end of June. One week later he was with the Gunners. Summary: Whatever Aulas says, don’t buy into it. I wouldn’t expect a January move, because that is something that they as a club would steer away from but summer?

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Tottenham

Trust the history of things, particularly recent history, before you go trusting words. Fekir is available and when the Gunners lock down a Champions League place, guess who gets the Frenchman?

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