Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette needs this to be a two-way street

Arsenal have been blessed with the tremendous play of Alexandre Lacazette, but if we want him to stay, we need to start returning the favor.

Arsenal are rebuilding, and I think we all understand that and empathize with the situation that Unai Emery has been put into, as well as the need to rebuild. But there are certain players who maybe aren’t as ready to empathize as the fans might be.

Alexandre Lacazette is an elite player who deserves to play among the best in the world. Of that I have no doubts, nor should anyone. He was our shoo-in for Player of the Season and he was the one guy all year that we knew was going to be an absolute mammoth of a presence, no matter the situation.

He bailed us out a lot. He has given us so much hope even in such a tumultuous time, and we should be quite thankful to him.

Which is why the links to a move to Atletico Madrid, following the links to Barcelona, are particularly worrying.

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It’s not that Lacazette would for any reason be unhappy here. But he did mention during the season that he could be happier, and while it didn’t seem like a lot at the time, I think his point is clear. The team could be doing better, and in exchange, he could then be happier.

As much as we all love Lacazette, it’s not like he’s a Gooner for life already. That takes time, and it requires us to give him what he has already given us – hope. Or more hope, rather.

That involves getting to the Champions League, being competitive therein, and being able to show progress in the Premier League as well.

I can’t imagine that Lacazette is that antsy to get out of North London, not with his partnership with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the positive direction that this club is headed in, but I would start to worry if next year doesn’t go the way we’d ideally like to see it go. I’d also worry if we didn’t manage to clinch the Europa League final and thus see ourselves back into the Champions League.

Lacazette needs this to be a two-way street. He needs to see that the club can give him what he needs, and that isn’t always an easy thing to do. I would truly hate to see Lacazette leave us, as would every single Gooner out there, so it’s time to get serious.