Arsenal: Of course Alexandre Lacazette is ‘flattered’

Alexandre Lacazette is ‘flattered’ by reported interest from Barcelona. Well, of course the Arsenal striker is. Anyone would be. Keeping him at the club, should Barca make a serious move, would not be easy.

Alexandre Lacazette was named Arsenal’s Player of the Season earlier this month. He has been the best player at the club, alongside top goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and has consistently proven himself to be one of the most complete centre-forwards in the Premier League.

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The Frenchman’s job was in peril at the start of the year. Only six months after his arrival had Aubameyang arrived, breaking his club-record transfer fee in the process. And new head coach Unai Emery started Aubameyang in a lone striker role for the first three matches of the year. Lacazette had to prove his worth.

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And that he did. In emphatic fashion. By the end of the league season, he scored 13 goals and assisted eight. He has also scored five goals in the Europa League, with two assists, including three crucial goals across two legs against Valencia in the semi-final. The final is still to come, which, given Lacazette’s record in the big games, could yet be heavily impacted by the striker.

All this is to say that Lacazette has had an excellent second season in north London. He has raised his striking pedigree from when he was at Lyon, which was still substantial, and is now considered among the upper echelon of world centre-forwards. And so, naturally, there is reported interest from some of the biggest clubs in the world — all the best teams are looking for strikers, and Lacazette, a proven goalscorer and all-round contributor at 28 in two weeks time, is a prime target.

The latest club to be named as a possible suitor is Barcelona. Lacazette was asked this week about the potential interest, to which he replied he was ‘flattered’. And the problem for Arsenal is that that should come as no surprise. Any footballer in the world should be ‘flattered’ by interest from Barcelona.

That could spell trouble for the upcoming summer. Emery and Raul Sanllehi are attempting to conduct a rebuild of the squad, this summer the first in which they can truly make groundbreaking moves to rid of the unwanted players and begin to acquire new, foundational pieces. Lacazette was most certainly not one of the unwanted players. He was unquestionably viewed as a key piece of the puzzle, someone around which this new era would be built. Losing him would be a travesty.

But if Barcelona do come calling, it is difficult to see how Arsenal can hang onto him, especially if they do not qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League final at the end of the month. Lacazette, surely, would want to go. And if that is the case, selling may be the only option — it is rarely a good idea to keep an unhappy player.

I am sure Arsenal have little interest in selling Lacazette. And I am certainly not advocating that they should. But, sadly, they may not have a choice in the matter. It is how the football food chain works, and Barcelona are frequently at the top of it. Being flattered is natural when Barca come calling, and that spells trouble.