Arsenal must not intervene in Alexandre Lacazette’s future

Even with transfer activity now way in the back of minds as Arsenal place their full focus towards sealing a top four place in the Premier League, certain decisions will be left to make.

The club opted against the signing of a centre-forward in the January window, with all belief instead being placed upon the shoulders of Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette. A huge risk, one everyone is acutely aware of.

A slimmer squad means more opportunities to invest, with the striker department particularly thin come the summer when only Folarin Balogun will remain as a senior option.

Given the amount of work that will be needed across the squad in terms of outgoings and potential other arrivals, the same talk that has emerged on numerous occasions across the season centres around Lacazette’s future.

Arsenal must not intervene in Alexandre Lacazette’s future as Lyon eye summer deal for French striker when his contract expires

It may be the case that Balogun requires another loan move to further his development. In all likelihood that will be the case, as he is still only 20 years old and not quite ready yet to be the number two striker for a club hopefully competing in Europe.

At the very least one centre-forward will be signed by Arsenal to account for Nketiah, Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s departures, therefore the possibility of keeping the Frenchman on for another season doesn’t sound entirely unreasonable.

But, of course, it would have to be on terms that the 30-year-old is highly unlikely to be keen on. A one-year extension with a significant cut on his £180k-per-week salary would make him an adequate backup option, while his contributions off the pitch in terms of leadership and guidance will be hard to replace.

However, is he ever going to accept that? At his age he will be looking for longer-term stability and Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas’ comments present an opportunity for Lacazette that Arsenal should not intervene in.

"“It’s Lacazette, he interests us because he marked this club,” he said, via Sky Sports. “It’s a profile that interests us and we have always been in contact with him.“This is part of the guiding ideas brought by (new sporting director) Bruno Cheyrou. In our context, yes he (Lacazette) is more accessible than Benzema.“We have to try to see if we can do it as a free player but we will not be alone.”"

Lacazette scored 129 goals in 275 games for Lyon before joining Arsenal over five years ago and a return to his hometown and only club other than the Gunners would be the ideal destination for him to wind down his career. He won’t get wages anywhere near those that he’s earning in north London, but a healthy signing on bonus would be expected.

Unless the terms of his staying at Arsenal are very specific and tilted hugely in the Gunners’ favour then the time to cut ties is here. Yes, it means going out to sign two strikers of excellent quality in the summer, but that’s not a bad thing. Far from it.

Arteta has yet to sign a single forward across the five windows he’s been in charge (Willian aside, if he counts) and where the team can go with those new additions is exciting. It would be a fitting end to Laca’s time in red and white if he can captain the club back into the Champions League.