Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette reports rubbish but not impossible

Reports from Turkey claim that Unai Emery wants to offload Alexandre Lacazette. While, for now, I believe them to be rubbish, the exit of the Arsenal striker is not impossible.

I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan — for the uninitiated, they are an American Football team. In the offseason, they traded away one of their best players, Marcus Peters. Rumours had been flying around for some time, but many fans unequivocally stated that he would not leave, with some even making quite a fool of themselves.

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I bring this up to give an example of where a decision can be made that we, as fans, do not expect, predict or even comprehend — the Peters trade was certainly all of those.

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Per this piece by TeamTalk — I know, reputable source. I will get onto this –, there are suggestions in Turkey that Unai Emery is wanting to sell Alexandre Lacazette to use the funds to address other needs elsewhere. Now, it does not seem particularly believable at first glance. It was less than a year ago that Lacazette was breaking Arsenal’s transfer record in a £47 million and being heralded as the next Ian Wright. And then, while there were times of trouble, he proceeded to contribute more goals and assists than any other player in their first season in the club’s history.

Moreover, the report is not all that convincing. TeamTalk is not the most reliable of sources, the piece provides no links to further sources, simply citing ‘reports from Turkey’, and uses rather vague language, like ‘Fenerbache are said to be…’ It is certainly not as believable as some other outlets, say BBC Sport and David Ornstein, for instance.

But logic dictates that it is not impossible. Like with the Kansas City Chiefs and Marcus Peters, there is a reasonable pathway that leads to Lacazette’s leaving.

It is believed that Emery wants to build the team around Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, as a central striker; Sven Mislintat did not sign Lacazette, but he did sign Aubameyang, who is an eerily similar player that could be deemed a replacement; Emery will have new plans and ideas that may not suit Lacazette and may shunt him to the peripheries of the squad; the budget is tight and some difficult sales may need to be made to fund other, more beneficial moves.

And so, while I struggle to believe these reports at this current time, I will not, like many Chiefs fans, irrefutably state that Lacazette will not leave the Emirates this summer. Like it or not, it is quite possible that he does.

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Yes, these reports may be rubbish, but their suggestion is not. There is logic to it, and that means ruling out a fool’s errand.