Arsenal: 3 replacements for Alexandre Lacazette

2. Moussa Dembele

If Arsenal are looking for a more ready-made Lacazette replacement, they could do a whole lot worse than returning to the Frenchman’s former club and signing the man they signed to replace him.

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Lyon acquired Moussa Dembele to be the next Lacazette. The former Celtic youngster has not disappointed. Dembele arrived in 2018. He scored 15 goals and added four assists in 2,017 minutes in his first season. He since followed that up with another superb season this year, scoring 16 goals with two assists in 2,189 minutes. Of those 31 goals, five are penalties.

Dembele is a different player to Lacazette. He is not as bulky or strong on the ball, though he is capable of keeping position, winning fouls, and completing dribbles, though he failed more than he completed this season. But he is quicker, especially on the counter-attack, and his movement is geared more towards bursting in behind defences, rather than dropping short.

Now, it might be that Mikel Arteta wants a centre-forward who can link up play and drop into midfield. Dembele can play this role, if needed, but his true threat comes on the shoulder of the defence and in the penalty area. From that perspective, there are few better young strikers in Europe right now.