Arsenal: Nabil Fekir can be Alexandre Lacazette’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal have reunited a dynamic duo and are reaping immediate rewards, so wouldn’t they want to do the same thing with Nabil Fekir and Alexandre Lacazette?
Arsenal clearly had a bit of a light bulb moment when they decided to reunite Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. They had such a delicious history together at Borussia Dortmund and that is translating immediately to life in North London.
I don’t understand why this sort of “reunification” tactic isn’t used more often. It is something that I have always advocated for, and something that just doesn’t seem to be too widely utilized. Bringing together two players who used to play together has natural chemistry already built in and it has a certain satisfaction element too, for player and team alike.
Granted, not every player is best friends with all of his former team mates, but there are connections out there that are worth recreating. Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan are one of them. In their last year together they combined for 59 goals and 31 assists. That’s just stupid good.
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In the process of reuniting this pair, Alexandre Lacazette has been sort of shoved out in the cold, without a partner to be his version of Mkhitaryan. Only, Lacazette’s version of Mkhitaryan is widely available and ready to join the Gunners – by his own father’s admission – should they seek out his signature.
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I am, of course, speaking of Nabil Fekir. Fekir and Lacazette played together at Lyon through their formative years and, while not as statistical dynamic as the Dortmund duo, they found great success in linking up together.
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In Fekir’s and Lacazette’s last year together (2016/17), they combined for 47 goals and 11 assists. Like I said, that’s not Dortmund-like, but fora toned down attack in a toned down lead, that is as impressive as it gets. They were the two best players on Lyon and now, with Lacazette gone, Fekir remains the best player on the Ligue 1 side.
Adding Fekir would give Lacazette immense satisfaction. And I’ve heard of internal competition – pitting on player against each other – but how about internal duo competitions – pitting the Dortmund boys against the Lyon boys? That would be one of its kind.
It may feel like overkill at this point. Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil both play where Nabil Fekir would hope to play. Plus, Fekir may damn well get in the way of Lacazette playing. But as Manchester City have proven, a surplus of attackers doesn’t have to be a cluster****. They rotate and utilize all the talents that they have.
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I believe that there would be plenty of sensible ways to let the two pairs of players each have their fair share of game time while simultaneously keeping a strong foothold in every competition. It sounds crazy, I know. We’ve only just got the Dortmund gang. But we always have to look forward.