Arsenal facing surprise January Lacazette transfer interest

Arsenal have a host of players they still need to move on in the coming transfer windows and while January is always a difficult period of the season to both sign players and sell, every now and then a surprise comes up.

Looking at the list of upcoming transfer sales, there are around seven or so members of the squad who are either due to leave in the summer when they’re deals are up or are among those considered expendable.

Alexandre Lacazette is on that list, albeit as someone who is most likely just to see out his contract at Arsenal for the remainder of the season.

Perennially linked with a move to Italy, where Inter are often mooted as a destination, or back to France where he started his career, there was no success in moving him on in the previous window. The striker situation still needs tending to.

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Arsenal facing surprise January transfer interest in Alexandre Lacazette from Saudi-led Newcastle United as Magpies eye huge reinforcements

Efforts were made with a list of replacements including Tammy Abraham and Lautaro Martinez. Failure to move Lacazette and/or Eddie Nketiah on nipped those moves in the bud, with the former joining Roma and the latter primed to sign a new deal at Inter.

But there is always January, right?

As per The Northern Echo, Newcastle are interested in signing the Frenchman with the club’s new Saudi-led owners keen on bolstering the squad in the winter window. This is ideally with an eye on not getting relegated, which would be somewhat unfortunate in the wake of the successful completion of their £305m buyout of Mike Ashley.

Boasting an bottomless transfer kitty, the Magpies can still spend in the region of £200m in January and remain within the limits of the Financial Fair Play. Despite that inviting proposition, Amanda Staveley has tempered expectations by insisting the club will take matters slowly; no Kylian Mbappe’s and Erling Haaland’s just yet.

The focus for the short-term will be on acquiring Premier League experienced talent – James Tarkowski and Jesse Lingard have also been mnetioned – with the aim of steadying the ship and merely avoiding relegation this term. For that reason, Lacazette does fit the bill for them.

One issue is that while some monetary gain (both in fee and wages off the bill) for someone due to leave in six months would be hugely welcome, can Arsenal afford, in the non financial sense, to let Lacazette go?

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Arsenal Can Sell Lacazette to Newcastle in January – Just About

Intriguingly, January is the stage of the season where Lacazette will have most use for Mikel Arteta: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is off to AFCON and so is fellow forward Nicolas Pepe. Options in that department are reduced.

Folarin Balogun remains and while a loan is needed for him it appears as if another season of Under-23 football is the club’s preferred course of development. Nketiah may also be of use, yet he too may be moved on or have signed a pre-contract agreement abroad come then. Could still play, mind you.

But, of course, the January window doesn’t close until the end of the month.

And lurking in the background is Gabriel Martinelli. He will be frothing at the prospect of being handed a string of starts at centre-forward to prove his worth. If Balogun stays around, while clearly far less experienced than Lacazette, he can provide the more physical figure at No. 9 that Lacazette does so superbly.

It’s a huge step down in regards to experience with the youthful two compared to the senior members of the strike force, but dependent on how enticing Newcastle’s offer may be it could be under consideration by Arsenal.

Another aspect that needs factoring in, however, is the desire of Lacazette. Sure, one can assume he’ll be handed an almighty salary by the Magpies to join the club, yet for a striker who is now 30 years old he could be looking at one ‘big’ move closer to his native Lyon.

Comfortable at Arsenal, it could be that he favours a European return, perhaps with continental competition, as opposed to Tyneside in a relegation scrap where he will surely be usurped by the new shiny toy the club will sign further down the line.

So much will hinge on the offer, should it indeed ever arrive. Lacazette is among the options being eyed by the richest sporting institution on the planet and their list of targets will be extensive, for sure.

It’s something to keep an eye on, though.